


Bianca Di Angelo and the Olympians

by IntolerableSaytr



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, M/M, My First Fanfic, NO TALOS ALLOWED, Percico - Freeform, Take it easy on me, There is no schedule, They will swear, biancabeth, di angelos are gay, piper needs popcorn, she's the chosen one, there will be NO Percy/bianca here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-19 07:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 33,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntolerableSaytr/pseuds/IntolerableSaytr
Summary: What if the original trio found The di Angelo's on their first quest, only to find that Bianca was older than Percy? Not great at summaries, but expect humour, adventure, angst, and our favourite gay characters as they fight to defeat Kronos and his minions.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Bianca di Angelo, Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson, Piper McLean/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	1. Nice To Meet You, We're 80!

Third Person POV

“Oh my gods, how long-”

“I don't know,” Percy responded hastily, “But we need to find Grover.”

Annabeth nodded, and he grabbed her hand so they wouldn't get separated again, and began moving through The Lotus Hotel and Casino. They searched for a few minutes before Percy wondered out loud, “Would anyone staying here have seen him?” Annabeth took that thought and quickly used it, grabbing a young boy’s attention by asking if anyone had seen a boy with acne, a limp, and enough Waterland themed clothing to start a park himself.

The boy had to have been around 10, and was wearing some Lotus Hotel merchandise. He was carrying a deck of cards in his hands, and wore a smile that could be seen for miles; similar to others in the Casino. “I saw someone like him over this way, I'll show you!” he said gleefully. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other skeptically. It was very possible that this boy was a monster, and while they didn’t want to take any chances, they weren’t going to just leave Grover here. They decided to follow the boy, who led them through the arcade, speaking to them as they moved. “I’m Nico, I’ve been here for about a month, it's really cool! They have this stand where a magic wall shows some other guy who played Mythomagic with me, and I’m getting really good.” 

He raved on about this game, until he found Grover playing a game where he was shooting humans, instead of deer. “Take that you nasty humans! That's what you get-” Annabeth grabbed him, and he shoved her away. “No!” Annabeth and Percy simultaneously grabbed his arms, but he struggled.

“Nico!” a worried girl's voice called from where they had originally come from broke through the crowd.

“Over here, Bianca! That's my sister, sorry.” Nico called back, and a girl ran up to them. She, like her brother had extremely dark brown eyes, to the point where they were almost pitch black. Where they differed is while Bianca had brunette hair cascading down her shoulders, Nico had black hair cut short enough that it didn’t cover his ears too much; although it was still quite scraggly. She was fitted with a simple red shortsleeve, with the Lotus logo splashed along its backside. She had dark blue jeans, while her brother was donning a black lotus shirt, and shorts with many designs trickled around them. “I was just showing these people where that limpy guy was, see?”

“Oh,” She took a deep breath, she was hyperventilating from running around searching for her brother. “Well, I’m sorry if he bothered you.” she said, looking at the odd trio, one of which seemingly struggling against his counterparts.

Annabeth shook her head, “No, not at all, we were just going, actually.” she kicked Percy in the shin (he wondered if she enjoyed doing that of late, considering she had done it on the van as well.) He glared in Annabeth's direction.

“So soon? Oh! Where are my manners? I’m sorry, my name’s Bianca di Angelo.” she held out her hand, and retracted it after the restrained boy tried to bite it. 

Annabeth looked at her closely, the gears turning in her head. “Why don’t you come with us? You know, breath fresh air for a minute?” Percy looked at her incredulously, but knowing her, there was some planning going on, so he decided to go along with it. He nodded quickly.

The sister looked reluctant, but Nico looked really excited, rambling to his sister about how ‘we’ve been cooped up forever!’ and ‘it’ll only be a minute!’ and she finally agreed.

They moved towards the door, and a man offered them a platinum card, but they ignored him. That's when they burst out into the world, and the Di Angelo siblings nearly had a heart attack.

“What's that thing on the road?”

“More magic walls!”

“Was that invented in the last month or something?”

“Ho-”

Annabeth held her hand up, signaling them to stop. “Grover,” she looked at the newly un-hypnotized boy, “watch them.” She dragged Percy out of hearing range. “Relay the prophecy again.”

“Why-”

“Just do it” she growled at him.

“Ok, erm… You shall go west, and face the god who has turned, You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned?” She urged him to keep going.

“Yet angels reside in the land of no age, Used to contain their parents' rage. That’s it.”

She looked back at me, then to the siblings. She seemed to come to a realisation, and paled. “How long were we in there?” Percy shrugged his shoulders. “Well check!” they looked around for a sign when they saw it. ‘June 20th, 2005.’

“Shit.” Annabeth said, and Percy couldn’t blame her. Because they only had one day left to finish their quest.

Annabeth ran over to the siblings and the satyr, but against what Percy expected her to do, she asked, “What year is it?” Grover went to answer with the actual year, but Annabeth sent him a glare.

Bianca looked at them. “2005. Right?”

“Ok, well who was the last president?” Percy couldn't see where she was going with this.

“Franklin Roosevelt.”she said with way too much confidence for it to be a joke. Percy and Grover didn’t know that much about history, but they knew that Franklin Roosvelt definitely had not been the last president. “Why are you all looking at me weird?” she asked self consciously.

“Yet angels reside in the land of no age,” Annabeth said to no one in particular, “di angelo means angel in Italian, it all fits.” That's when it clicked for the boys (Excluding Nico, he seemed to be looking around at the cars still.)

Bianca looked as if she had a million questions, but Grover interrupted, “Shouldn’t we be headed to LA right now? Our quest?” That riled Bianca up even more, but we were moving before she could react.

Annabeth dragged the siblings along, and only Bianca was resisting. “STOP!” She yelled at Annabeth after she dragged her all the way to a crosswalk, and surprisingly, she obeyed. “You're going to explain to me what the hell is going around here, or I’m going back to the hotel.” 

“What do you know about Greek Mythology?” Annabeth looked at Percy, as if she wanted to strangle him.

“Ooh! Zeus has this cool lightning bolt in his main hand, it does like a TON of damage!” Nico went. Bianca glared at him, then at Percy.

Percy somehow knew that he was doing the right thing, because they had to be demigods if they were involved with the prophecy. “It’s all real.” Bianca (and Annabeth) looked at him like he was insane. “All the myths, the legends, the monsters, the demigods, are real. Me and Annabeth are even demigods. And we’re on a quest, and that line, Yet angels reside in the land of no age, is part of a prophecy.” 

“No age because Roosevelt was the president 70 years ago.” Annabeth continued for the son of Poseidon, “You were in there for 70 years.” Bianca looked stunned. Nico looked all excited.

He looked at Percy admiringly. “Oooh! does that mean-”

“This isn’t your stupid game, Nico!” Bianca exploded on him. She immediately regretted it when he shrank away from her. “No,” she said, quieter now. “70 years, thats...”

“Do you know what a phone booth is?” Bianca shook her head. “That's because there weren’t any until 15 years ago.”

They needed more convincing. “But the gods were just something people invented, you know, to give people a reason to live. Then they died out when Rome took over. ” She told them.

“Immortals don’t just die, Bianca.” Annabeth told her gently, “They migrated, making their way west till they got to America.” Everyone went silent for a moment.

“And if you're telling the truth? Then what?” Nico asked excitedly.

“We, including you, go to LA to confront The Lord of The Dead.” Bianca really didn’t want to trust them, but how could there be these crazy things that everyone used, that certainly didn’t happen in 1 month. But 70 years? Greek Gods? 

“What are we then? I mean, we’re normal, right?”

Annabeth said, “I’m not 100% sure, but your most likely demigods, like us.” Bianca looked as if that was the final straw.

“...Fine, but-” she leaned in closer to Annabeth, to the point where only she could hear“-keep my brother safe.”

Annabeth said quietly so that no one could hear except to the girl across from her, “I swear on the River Styx that I will protect your brother to the best of my ability, until we finish this quest.”


	2. Percy Ain't No Shoplifter

Annabeth's POV

As I sat in the aisle seat of a bus to Los Angeles, there were a couple things running through my head.

-Who were the di Angelos parents? They had to be involved in the quest now, and Percy had told them the real reason so there definitely was going to be some backlash for that one.

\- Was the bus gonna get blasted off the road by Zeus, again? (They had a streak to keep up, right?)

And…

-Why the hell did I just blindly swear to protect Nico at all costs?

Not that I had anything against talkative Mythomagic fanatics, but it was more the fact that he could be some monster, for all they know. Against my better judgement, these suspicious demigods and/or worse (She had tested on Bianca, her dagger had been able to cut her.) were now sitting across the aisle from them, after explaining that it was a moving object and ‘it won’t blow up this time’. 

I had peppered Bianca with questions for most of the ride, but I soon realised that she didn’t really know anything, that their memories were just not there (Or they could be lying, which was why I was so suspicious.) Now I sat there, looking at her, wondering if she was going to pop out, grow fangs, and yell ‘gotcha’!

On top of all this, Percy was talking about how ‘we could be wrong’, and I couldn’t help but think that he was right. Even after he described his dream to me previously, I still wanted to believe that Hades was the god who had turned, because Hades is evil, because he’s a monster who doesn’t give a damn about things people can’t contro-

“Are you okay?” Percy asked from beside me, and I figured that I must have been scowling a hole into Bianca’s head.

I hesitated, “I’m fine.” Percy didn't seem to notice the pause, or at least if he did, he didn’t show it. “How far are we now?” I said to Grover, who was sitting in the row ahead of me.

The bus answered for him. “Arriving at Los Angeles” it said robotically, as the bus slowed. Everyone began to get up, Nico being shaken lightly by his sister; his head was on her lap in what surely must have been an uncomfortable position for the girl. He awoke quickly and shot his head up.

“DOA Recording Studios!” He said with wide eyes.

We all looked at him as if he had lost it. “Wait wait, just, let's get off the bus first.” I said, knowing that something important was going on. 

We scrambled off onto the platform, and sat at the benches. “What were you talking about back there, Nico?” Bianca asked.

“I had this dream… There was this man, I think he was a god.” I urged him on. “And he said ‘Your father awaits you, now is her time.’” That meant either me or Bianca, but the latter was more likely seeing as it was supposedly their father calling them. “Then.... he went on about some ‘Great Prophecy’ and how I must ‘Outplay the sea’.” I glanced at Percy warily, and tightened my grip on my dagger. ‘Outplay the Sea was definitely referencing him or his father, Poseidon.’ “But he said to meet him at DOA Recording Studios.”

“Then we go there,” Percy said, “It’s not as if we have any better ideas.” I had to agree there. So we decided to take off and found a map at a tourist stand, which I (Percy could never) stole. 

There were some ‘interesting’ people looking at us, but for some reason they seemed to edge away from us whenever they got too close. Or, to be precise, they edged away from the siblings. It got me thinking, because they were obviously related on both sides. What god would be dedicated enough to come back a second time to a mortal? Most godly beings would fall in love for about 2 minutes, make a child, then leave the mortal behind heartbroken and a single parent.

On the other hand, why would this ‘god’ be so obsessed with The Great Prophecy. I had one theory, not an enjoyable one, but in all honesty it was probably the most likely scenario. “Bianca, hey!” I spoke ahead to her, “How old are you? Biologically, I mean.” I said, trying to sound like I was just curious. 

“Erm… 12. At least that's how old I was when we first got to Las Vegas.”

Percy finally noticed the conversation, but didn’t interrupt me, as he seemed to be watching some newscast through the windows of a shop, “When's your birthday?”

She paused for a moment “July...31!” I paled, because if my theory was right, it changed everything.

They, in theory, were born before the Great Prophecy was issued, and therefore, even if the Big Three swore to have no kids, they would have been alive. So if they were children of The Big Three, their subsequent father would want to hide them from the rest of their brothers, so they wiped the siblings' memories, and stuck them in a time trap. But wiping memories is something only one of the brothers had access to…

I pulled Percy and Grover out of hearing range, and said in a hushed voice, “Hades.”

“What, where?”

I glared at Grover. “No, their father.”

I waited for them to get it. “But that's impossible, right?” Percy asked slowly, still looking shaken from whatever he was watching.

“Not necessarily. They don’t know anything about their past, because he threw them in the Lethe and stuck them in a hotel for 70 years. That was before they swore to not have kids.” I left out the age bit, because Percy didn’t need to know that much yet. “Only one god has access to the River Lethe. Hades.”

Percy looked worriedly at the 12 and 10 year old hunched over the map. “So they're leading us to a trap?”

“Or their father just wants his kids. He undoubtedly was planning to pull them out eventually, it just happened sooner than expected.” Grover states. He had a point, but they didn’t know that there was more to it. 

“When's your birthday, Percy?”

“Why-”

“Just tell me.” I said urgently.

“August 18th, why?” Shit. Bianca’s older than Percy. She’s (if I was right) eligible for the prophecy. Shit shit shit. Hades wasn’t a very friendly guy, per say. He certainly could revel against The Olympians. And now we just gave him a way to win on a silver platter. That was if she was even right, but why else would Nico conveniently get a dream to some location?

“Annabeth, is something wrong?” I jumped at Bianca’s voice.

I calmed myself. “I’m alright. We were just talking about what our plan for meeting yo- Hades is.” 

She nodded and moved back to the street, but I noticed that her gaze lingered on me for one moment. Was she really planning to kill me? I mean, she was a protective older sister, and didn’t ever act suspiciously. Her brother I was more weary of, likely due to the fact that he seemed too, well, childish. It could be a monster who was manipulating the mist, but Nico just seemed all lighthearted overall. Not resentful.

I’m overthinking this, I thought, but it didn't make me feel better.


	3. Voldemort Would Apreciate It

Bianca POV

“Here!” My brother shouted from beside me. We had arrived at a building labeled with golden lettering; ‘DOA Recording Studios’. There were people milling around it, but they seemed almost translucent.

“Ghosts?” I mumbled under my breath. Where had I come up with that idea? It made sense, but it shouldn’t have just come to me, right?

“You were right.” Percy said quietly behind me to Annabeth. I obviously wasn’t supposed to hear, and kept quiet. Percy said, (Louder this time) “This is the Underworld.” Grover glanced miserably at Nico, and I shot a deadly glare at him, hopefully sending the message do not touch him, I will kill you. It seemed to work.

“My father?” Nico asked in a daze

“Hades.” I said, knowing I was right. “Lord of The Underworld.” The original trio stared at me, and I could see fear in their eyes. After all (from what I had gathered from Percy) I was the child of their ‘enemy’. “Look...”

“I trust her.” Percy said out of nowhere, “She didn’t know who she was, and besides-” he looked pointedly at Annabeth, as she was glaring at him, “‘Used to contain their parents' rage’? It’s obviously referring to them helping us. Defending us against You Know Who.”

Annabeth snorted, “As much as Voldemort would appreciate the sentiment, I think that these, these… people are going to lead us straight into a trap.” I had to admire her stubbornness.   
Of course, she was against me, but she wasn’t trying to kill me, and I didn’t want that to happen to Nico or I. “We’re not your enemies, there must be a way we can prove it?” I asked urgently.

“Swear it. On the River Styx.” Annabeth said, almost as an afterthought.

I hesitated, “What is that?”

“Do it. You said you weren’t our enemy? Then it shouldn’t matter.” She looked at me expectantly.

I paused and thought about it. She could be cursing me into oblivion now, but I saw no better options. “I swear on The River Styx... ” I glanced at her to check if I was doing it right, and she waved me on, “...that me and Nico had no previous knowledge of your or our true identities, or your goals on this quest. And that we will help you to the best of our abilities on this quest.” A thunder commenced in the sky, louder than the rest (It had been stormy since they left Vegas) and Annabeth seemed slightly impressed.

“Okay.” She said with a clear finality. “Your his kids right? So just walk in.”

I took a deep breath, and Nico took my hand and squeezed. He knew that I got really nervous with lots of attention sometimes. “Your plan is to just walk in?” Grover asked hysterically, “What if your father doesn’t like us being with you?”

“Don’t think negative.” I sent Percy a grateful look. I glanced to the sky; the thunder was following bouts of lightning, and rain poured on us. ‘What a great way to die’ I thought, before approaching the doors.

As soon as they entered, they were greeted with ghosts cowering away from the Di Angelos. They looked almost fearful, and I could guess why; we were basically the Prince and Princess of this place, and we could probably order them to do whatever we wanted them to.

They began to murmur around us, but we continued up to the front desk where a man in an Italian suit stood quickly. He bore a nametag; Charon.

“Mr. and Ms. Di Angelo!” he said in a panicky voice, “I did not expect to see you here on this- er… very wonderful evening!” he glanced behind me. “Why are they with you?”

“They’re our guests, of course.” He looked at me, skeptical. “They guided us here. Without them, we’d be as good as dead!” I shot the deadliest glare I could muster at Charon. “Would you not want our glorious saviours to journey with us to see our father?”

He cracked under my sight. “Oh, okay, fine! Just let me gather my things here...” He scrambled towards the elevator. If I hadn’t known better, I’d say his butt was on fire, but alas, his Italian dress pants were unharmed. He escorted ghosts out of the elevator to make room for us.

“How long are the dead going to stay in the lobby?” Nico wondered out loud.

Charon thought for a moment. “They will eventually come.” he said to my brother consolingly.

Everyone clamored in, and we began our descent. “Do you see that?” I asked Percy, because Charon’s clothing was turning into a dark cloak, and the elevator was becoming a boat and was sailing across an inky river. “The River Styx.” I said, mostly to myself, because I had no reason to know what it was, yet I did. It was almost an odd feeling, as if this whole world was just on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t just know it.

Nope, I thought bitterly, it was just a big secret and I wasn’t in on it.

“I'm getting seasick...” Griver mumbled. 

The same could be said for Annabeth, she looked as if being on a boat in The Underworld was her worst nightmare. I rested my hand on her back, and she flinched away. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I said quietly “I just was making sure you’re alright.”

“I’m fine, no thanks to you.” she spat at me, gesturing to me and Nico. 

“Don’t bring him into your little grudge against me for some reason. He didn’t do anything wrong-”

“He’s a child of Ha- You know who! You both are!” She whispered angrily, as Percy was too busy consoling Grover to notice the discussion.

“And that's our fault? You can’t hate me for something I can’t control!” She paused, looking at me shocked. 

After a moment, she glanced worriedly at me, as if she was about to apologise. Then she lightly grabbed my wrist, her thumb over my pulse. 

She was making sure there was someone else alive, I thought. I froze for a moment, then slowly eased myself into that position, though I couldn’t prevent a slight blush from coating my cheeks. (My skin is pale okay? I was inside for 70 years straight).

We approached the shore, coated in black sand. “Here goes nothing.” Percy said.

“I would wish you luck,” Charon paused as a howl rang out, “But there is none for you three.”


	4. Airports Are Scary

Percy POV

“What is this, The Airport?” I wondered out loud. I wasn’t expecting the entrance to The Land of The Dead to have metal detectors leading to different parts of The Underworld, with guards wearing black cloaks. Of the three detectors, two were labeled ATTENDANT ON DUTY, while one was labeled EZ DEATH. The latter was moving quite fast, but the other two were at a crawl.

“That's The Fields of Asdophel.” Nico said, pointing towards the quick moving line. It led to what looked like prairies, yet what would have been miles of green and yellow, it was all dead and withered.

“Why would anyone go there?” I asked. All the souls were milling around, looking almost… lost.

“No judgement. Then they don't risk being punished by the judges, right?” Annabeth looked to Bianca for confirmation, and she nodded. He noticed that they were standing closer together than normal…

“Why are you holding hands?” he asked blatantly. The daughter of Athena moved so fast away from Bianca, she may have teleported. The sister looked, embarrassed, to her feet. “You know what, I don’t care, let's just go.” I said, not wanting to bring up whatever I had apparently missed in the last, oh, ten minutes. 

“Umm, Percy...” Grover whimpered from behind me. 

I turned, “What wro-” I froze, because there was a three headed dog standing over us. It was huge, maybe 3 stories high. It stared its red beady eyes at us. 

“Heel!” a shout came from behind, Nico’s. “Cerberus, sit.” Nico had his hand out, and the giant dog sat. “Lay down.” It followed. “Good boy.” he took a Lotus Hotel ball out of his bag. “Fetch!” he threw it into the fields. The monster bounded off, leaving us safe to pass.

“Poor thing probably doesn’t get much attention.” Annabeth of all people said.

“Who car-” Grover looked at the di Angelos, “-an say no to a good game of fetch!” He put on a strained smile. Bianca cocked an eyebrow at him, but ignored it after rolling her eyes.

We made our way with the crowd of ghosts, through the EZ DEATH detector. “Nico did a good job.” Annabeth said to me. I looked at her questioningly. “My… father had a doberman. I taught him to do all those things in obedience school.” her eyes were shining, and I realized she was crying. 

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, that did a good job, really.” I said, although I could have been referring to Nico or her. Our moment was interrupted by Grover tripping over his own feet.

“Woah!” He cried as the flying shoes that I had given to him (They were from Luke, but I couldn’t really fly with them seeing as Zeus would blast me.) dragged him away from us. “Maia! Nine one one! Help!”

We sprinted after him, as he went into a channel between the rock walls. He tried to slow himself but couldn’t get a grip on anything. The channel opened up to a cavern with a large pit. “This is-” I panted as we ran ,“-The place from my dream”

He tried to untie the laces, but couldn’t reach his feet. I thought, this is it, this is how I killed my best friend by giving him a pair of shoes. But one thing saved him.

His hooves.

The shoes were always a loose fit on him, and they slipped off just before they shot into the pit, leaving Grover behind.

“What is this place?” Nico asked, panting.

Annabeth said worriedly “Tartarus.” I uncapped Anaklumos, waving it around illuminating the area around us.

“We need to get out of here,” Bianca said darkly, “I’d rather not go to hell today.” A force felt as if it was weighing us down as we made our way out, and not a moment too soon. The pit seemed to suck in, and if we had been any closer, we would have fallen.

“What was that?” Grover asked as we emerged from the chasm.

“Ta- The Pit is like...” Nico tried to formulate an explanation, “If The Underworld was Heaven, then The Pit would be Hell.”

Annabeth looked at him, “And how is it you know that?” she asked accusatory.

“We just know Underworld stuff, probably because of our father.” Bianca answered for him.  
“Oh really? If you're so smart, tell us why you seem to know everything about Greek Mythology?”

“It's my brother's game. That Mythomagic one.” she responded, exasperated, “He got it as a ‘gift’ about 2 weeks ago. Some guy in a suit lent it to him and never came back for it.”

“Maybe that was your father.” I said, interrupting whatever Annabeth was going to say, “Or one of his servants.”

"Why would he do that?"

I shrugged, "Maybe he was trying to teach you about his world before-"

"It went belly-up? Figures." She kept moving through the crowd of dead, "I mean-" she pushed forward, I had to jog to keep up, "-Hades was the only figure he didn't have. It's not like he wanted us to know about him."

"He's The Lord of The Dead! Maybe he didn't want you making false assumptions."

She let out a bitter laugh. "Assumptions? Like the fact that we had a father this whole time yet he's nowhere to be found?" We were rearing up on a castle looking structure.

"I know how you feel, Bianca. My father was never there-"

"At least he didn't find you to be such a hassle that he stuck you in a hotel for 70 years!" She turned and yelled at me, and I flinched. The guards around the castle shifted nervously as she raised her voice, "I've been watching Nico forever because my mothers dead, and my father was too until 12 hours ago! At least he could've had the decency to tell us! Not let me raise myself and Nico!"

I realised (kinda late for this) that she must've had this pent up for weeks, and that it wasn't really my fault. She was just taking it out on me. But I couldn't help but blame myself for bursting her bubble. 

She's a Daughter of Hades, I reminded myself, she's naturally scary.

Bianca looked as if she was spent, "Where have you been?" I jumped, remembering that there were other around too. They had just caught up to us.

Bianca looked at her brother, and I felt the temperature around me become warm again (Read: still really cold, but slightly warmer). "We were just talking." I said.

"Well here goes nothing." Grover looked at me for reassurance, and I sent him a light smile. I knew he was terrified.

"More like here goes everything." I mumbled under my breath. After all, if we died here, this was all for nothing.

Annabeth looked at Bianca and Nico. "You better contain his rage pretty damn well." she said in an almost mocking tone.


	5. Starting A War (For Peace)

Annabeth POV

Death.

It coated the walls of the fortress where Hades was. Engravings of people dying. Even the modern depictions, such as an atomic bomb and famine with africain-amearican people, all looked etched in hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.

“Prophecies.” Nico said from behind me, “For all we know we could be on here.” I glared at him, oh yes, it probably is your father standing over us, with our luck.

We went through the bronze gates into, “The Garden of Persephone. Don’t eat anything.” I said, particularly to Grover as he seemed drawn to a nice pomegranate.

There were Greek marble columns creating an entrance-way onto the entrance hall. The throne room had no roof; just the cavern far above (I could barely see it due to the torchlight being less prominent than modern day lighting.) Two skeletons with RPG’s stood guard.

“You know...” Grover bleated, “I bet Hades doesn’t have problems with door-to-door salesmen.” I internally nodded, laughing being an impossibility where we were. I saw Percy shrug the backpack up on his shoulders again, and I noticed it looked a lot more bulgy than usual. 

Whatever was in there could wait.

“I guess we should… Knock?” I nodded my assent; my throat was too dry to speak. But before he could do anything, the door flew open on its own, putting is right in front of The Lord of The Dead (fist still raised awkwardly in out attempt to knock)

Hades sat on his throne made from the bones of mortals (Demigod too probably, seeing as he hated them.), in black robes with a golden circlet on his head. He had albino skin, and jet black hair down around his neck, just above his shoulders. His demeanour radiated power, telling me kneel or die. 

“You are brave to come here, Son of Pos-” whatever he was about to say died in his throat as he saw who was with us. “Bianca? Nico?” He asked, in shock. “How...”

“We came here at your- er- dream calling.” Nico said.

Hades looked puzzled. “But why are you with these,” the god looked at our trio, “Godlings?”

“Well they brought us out from that Hotel.” If I didn’t know better, I would say Bianca seemed to be emitting coldness. “And you sent a dream to Nico, telling him to come here. Don’t back out now.” Even if it was her father; on the path she was taking, she would be hit by a stalactite before she finished her speech.

For some reason, I didn’t want that.

"I mean-" Hades said with an odd look on his face, "-I'm glad your here but, I never sent you a dream calling."

Nico looked shocked. "Who else would want to call us here?" he asked, mostly to himself. "If anything, the voice seemed dark and scary, I figured it was you. But I guess it was similar to that pit..."Hades looked as if the idea of a pit really set him off, but Percy didn't let that train of thought continue.

“We came in peace, Uncle.” Not the time for joking Percy. I kicked him in the shin (old habit).

“In peace?” Hades let out a cruel laugh, and the temperature in the room dropped even more, “Is that what you were planning on when you stole my Helm? Oh,” he said in a falsetto voice, “I’m going to start a war between the gods, for peace?”

“Your Helm?” I asked in a daze. “Your Helm… it's gone?”

“Stolen, by this sea spawn.” another laugh, “You really thought I was that ignorant? You come here now, fall to your knees, beg me to free your mother.”

“They don’t have it, father.” Nico said from behind me, “We would’ve known.”

“They want war. So they find you, and threaten your lives for that boy's mother. I’ve seen war. This is how the game is played.”

Percy shook his head, “But wouldn’t war be good for you? More dead, stronger army?”

The siblings gaped at him, “He doesn’t control the dead, he watches over them. If anything, it would be an inconvenience.”

“See!” Hades had a proud smile on his face, “My daughter gets it! The expenses to expand are astronomical! Charon has been pestering me for a pay raise for centuries! It’s awful.” he moaned. 

“Besides,” the god continued, “You can’t act as if you don’t have The Master Bolt in your bag there!”

Percy looked puzzled, as was I, as he opened his bag. His eyes widened. Lo and behold, he pulled out the very thing we had come here for.

“How...”

“My children, step aside.” Hades said, obviously going unnoticed as Percy was in shock from what was in the bag. But Bianca and Nico didn't budge from their spot.

Then, monsters rushed in from Hades as well at the entrance. Explosions rang out.

The bag...

“What is this?” Hades yelled as monsters not under his command rushed into the room.

The bag from Ares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more of a filler chapter, so its not very long. There will be some unique content next chapter, don't worry.
> 
> On another note, my friend (Who, mind you has not read a book or watched a movie other than Harry Potter) asked me about "my Annatavia fanfic thing". I took me a second to realise she had mixed up Octavia (The 100) and Annabeth (PJO). 
> 
> That would be very odd ship, but I'm also inclined to write it someday. We'll see. Have a good day!


	6. Flying Police Cars

Bianca's POV

I kicked a skeleton's knees out as it tried to fire a missile at Grover, "We need to run!"

"Well no shit, Sherlock!" Annabeth yelled as she went at another stab for the skeletons; they wouldn't turn to dust no matter how hard she stabbed. "The pearls, Percy!"

I looked at her incredulously for a moment. Then Percy pulled actual pearls from his pocket. "There's only three."

"I'll stay!" I called out. "Hades can protect me!"

We were being backed into a corner now, "Then I stay too. I'm not leaving my sister behind."

A hellhound bit at Annabeth's right forearm, and she dropped her dagger in pain. The beast jumped on her, pinning her to the ground. She used her other arm to hold it off.

I grabbed her dagger and threw it into a nearby monster. It stuck and started to turn to dust, but didn't stop approaching.

"Go Nico!" Annabeth called from her place on the ground. Me and here were separated from the boys.

They three boys, reluctantly took the pearls and threw them to the ground. A bubble appeared and they began levitating to the roof of the cavern. I sent my brother one last look. I'll be okay.

I ran at the skeleton with the dagger in it and ran up its front, in almost a dropkick. It fell to the ground as I lost my forward momentum and landed on top of it, essentially straddling it. I pulled the dagger out of its ribs and brought it down on its skull, which turned it to dust instantly. I turned quickly, standing, and turned toward The hellhound, who had scratched deeply at Annabeth's left collarbone to just below her right breast.

"STAND DOWN!" My voice rang out above the noise, commandingly.

The hellhound backed off from Annabeth, and whimpered.

"Father! We need to ward off the invaders!"

He glared at The daughter of Athena, "She is against us! Kill her-"

"She is under my protection. I swore to help her, and there still is an enemy god to deal with. You don't want war? Let us go."

He looked back between me and her. "Fine. Go. But if you get yourself killed-"

"I'll stay safe. I promise."

He nodded, before a new wave of monsters broke through Hades guards, overwhelming my father.

Thankfully I had a plan. Or something like that.

"Okay Mythomagic, don't fail me now." I whispered under my breath.

Nico may not have had the statue, but he had researched Hades's stats. 'He has the ability to dodge with Umbrakinesis!' I ran over to Annabeth, grabbing her left hand, 'It's super overpowered, like teleportation!' I lifted her up into my arms, and stared at a particularly dark corner, 'I wish I had that! Like you could go anywhere!'

Like LA?

I could see the bus stop in my mind and sprinted to the shadows. I pictured the shadows consuming us, until it became cold, and the wall didn't stop me.

They welcomed me.

I heard Hades' roar in the distance, and the world shook as I melted into the shadows.

The sun returned, and I took a deep breath. Annabeth was only half conscious, and to be fair, so was I.

If the mortals had seen a girl covered in blood carrying a girl heavily bleeding from her chest, they didn't say anything. I didn't question it.

That is until some girl looked at us yelling for help. She was holding a backpack shrugged over her shoulders, with what looked to be some nice clothing that had been ripped and uncleaned. She was about our age.

I almost laughed.

A police...what was it? Car! Yeah, well a police car pulled up and spoke into something on the dashboard. They climbed out and ran over to us, reassuring us that help was coming, and asking what happened.

Then they looked at the girl.

"Ms. McLean, your father has been worried sick!" The policeman said to her. "Come lets-""She can come in the ambulance with us." I said, "She pretty much saved our lives, Annabeth would want her there." I was really layering it, but I felt bad that we had busted her, and she looked like going back to her father was the worst idea in history.

I could relate.

"Oh, yeah, I could meet Jane there too, it would make your job so much easier." There was something about the way she spoke, it reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite place it. 

Regardless, it worked.

The Ambulance arrived, and they took me and the girl on in the back. We stayed out of the paramedics' way as they put her on a stretcher.

"Thanks," The girl beside me spoke, "I hope having to drive all the way to the hospital pisses Jane off."

I chuckled, "What did this Jane lady do to deserve such a horrible fate?"

She glared at the pavement a moment, in deep thought. "She made my father go away." I held back because she looked as if there was more. "That's not her fault really, it's just my dad's line of work but..."

"You need someone to blame?" She shrugged. "I'm Bianca." I held out my hand.

She took it. "I'm Piper... Piper McLean." she paused as if she was waiting for me to strangle her for telling me her name.

"Nice to meet you Piper. Can I ask why you're around here right now?"

"Was trying to find my way back after the earthquake. You?" Piper asked.

"Well..."

An explosion interrupted me. I saw cars go flying as I hunched down, trying to steady myself. "Was that a police cruiser?" Piper yelled as a car flew through the air.

The other Mortals didn't seem to notice the car that got blasted, only the blast itself, but I filed that info away for later. "Thats a friend of mine." She looked at me like I had lost it (which I probably have). "Can you..."

She noticed how I looked at Annabeth. "I'll stay with her. Just-" Another, less powerful but still noticeable explosion rang out. "-whatever your doing. Stay safe, alright?"

"No problem. Now, Percy," I steadied myself, still shaken from the Umbrakinesis, "Let's see what you've gotten yourself into."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They've been separated! I promise to reunite everyone soon, but its necessary for some parts of the story.
> 
> Also, Piper! I wasn't sure if I should add her as a character, but she was one of my faves of the 7 and I figured 'we're in LA, so why not?'.


	7. Luke's Advice Is Useless

Percy POV

"Never going swimming again-" Nico got cut off by a shark grabbing at his pant leg. He shrieked "PERCY!" As he went under the water again.

"Knock it off, Cliff."

The shark swam off. "That thing has a name?"

I looked at him, offended,"Of course he has a name."

"Guys!" Grover brought us out of our discussion, "Coast Guard!" He bleated.

I quickly handed Grover my shoes; better to have the lifeguard wondering why one kid was barefoot then wonder why one has hooves. Then I willed myself to become wet.

The boat arrived and brought us to shore, and we dragged ourselves on the dock.

"What now?"

"We need to find my sister." Nico told Grover, "And Annabeth." he added as an afterthought.

As much as I wanted to stomp straight to The Underworld and demand my friends and my mom back, I knew there were more urgent matters. "We need to deal with the actual god who turned first." I lightly grabbed Nicos shoulder to calm him, "The first chance we get to save them, we'll get an army and march down there like there's no tomorrow. But until then..."

I looked to see buildings burning from an earthquake; Hades had done this.

“The Prophecy was right. Your sister should be protecting Annabeth from Hades rage, and in the meantime I’m starting a war on three sides ‘cause I’m Poseidon's kid. And I ‘stole’ The Master Bolt.”

“But who would be that sneaky?” Grover asked, “Who would want war that bad?”

“Gee, let me think.” Then I glanced down to the beach to see none other than the traitorous god himself.

"Ares."

He hopped off his motorbike and stood with a cocky demeanour, and I could see the fire in his eyes were overcrowding them. “Hey kid,” he looked excited for me to be there, “You were supposed to die.”

“You stole The Helm and The Master Bolt.” I accused.

“Well now,” he wagged his forefinger, “I didn’t steal them personally. But you're not the only demigod who can run errands.” I went to ask if it was Clarisse, but thought better of it. After all, if I judged her for her father, then that would be just as bad as judging Nico for his. “Your impending the war effort.”

Nico answered why for me, “If my- if Hades kills you, your father gets angry at him, If Poseidon doesn’t admit to stealing the bolt, Zeus will get angry at him...”

“And if Hades has the bolt, there would be a three sided massacre.” Ares said smugly. He pulled a ski mask off the handles of his bike, “Oh and of course, Corpse Breath is still looking for this...” The mask transformed into The Helm of Darkness. “And he’ll be mad at both of his brothers ‘cause he won’t know who took it.”

“You said Ares gave you that pack?” Nico asked me, and I nodded, “Well The Master Bolt- in some way- was in there the whole time. It just appeared when you came close to my father.” Nico looked at Ares questioningly, “What I don’t understand is why not keep it? You're one of the best fighters on the council yet you decide to give the most powerful weapon away to Hades, nearly ensuring his victory? That can’t be very smart.”

The war god went in a daze for a moment, murmuring under his breath. I couldn’t make out but he seemed mesmerised, going “With that much firepower I coulda… I didn’t want the trouble.” He said confidently.

“You're lying.” I said. “Stealing the bolt wasn’t your idea. You just found the perpetrator, and they convinced you to pass it off to me.”

“I am the God of War!” He screamed, the flames in his eyes jumping dangerously high, “I take orders from no one! I don’t have dreams!”

“Who said anything about dreams?”

“It doesn’t matter.”he waved it off, but I could tell it startled him “The point is, you’ve gotta die, kid. Nothing personal.”

I smirked at him, trying to recuperate a confidence I never had, “Fight me your self-” He went to interrupt but I beat him to it, “-or are you too scared?”

He glared at me and waved his hand, creating a huge boar from the turf. “Percy, Run!” I heard Grover, but I didn’t listen, not this time.

As the boar charged, I sidestepped and unleashed riptide, swiping upwards. The boar's right tusk fell beside my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

I shouted “Wave!” and a wave of water surged up from nowhere, wrapping around the Boar like a blanket. It squealed in terror, then was washed away into the sea, gone.

“Are you gonna fight me now? Or send another pet pig?” I said smugly.

He shifted, obviously trying to restrain himself, “Watch it kid, I could turn you into-”

“A cockroach? Or a tapeworm?” I laughed, “Yeah, I’m sure that’d save you from getting your godly hide whipped.” I put my hand up mockingly, “How about this. If I lose, you can turn me into whatever you want. Take the bolt while you're at it. But if you lose, the helm and bolt are mine, and you have to leave me be.”

He pulled out a huge two handed celestial bronze sword.

Percy, don’t do this.” Grover begged, “He’s a god.” I knew Annabeth would have had the same reaction. I looked to Nico, who had a glimmer of pride in his eyes. I could see the message, even if he didn’t say it, ‘You got this’.

“At least take this.” Grover handed me a crushed soda can, and I put it in my back pocket. “The satyrs stand behind you.”  
“Done saying your goodbyes?” Ares asked. “I’ve been fighting for eternity, my strength is unlimited. What have you got?”

A smaller ego, I thought.

I backed into the water, making sure it went up to my ankles. ‘Ares has strength.’ He cleaved downwards at my head, but the water pushed me out of the way as I catapulted over his head, ‘That's all he has.’ I slashed as I came down, but Ares turned and deflected it. ‘Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes’

He grinned, “Not bad, not bad” He slashed again, forcing me to go onto dry land. I tried to sidestep back into the water, but Ares pushed so hard that I had to focus on not getting chopped to pieces first. I kept backing away from the surf; his blade was too long for me to get any openings.

‘When you’ve got the shorter blade’ I stepped closer to strike at his stomach, ‘get in close’ Ares knocked the blade out of my hands and kicked me...20...30 feet. I’d have broken my back if I hadn’t landed in a dune. 

Thanks for that advice, Luke.

“Police!” Nico called out, as a few cruisers pulled up to the beach. I didn’t get the chance to look long though, as Ares attacked again.

“Is that the kid from TV?” 

“That guy’s armed, get back up,” another officer said.

I rolled to the side as Ares’ blade smashed in the sand. I ran for my sword, scooped it back up, and went to slash at his face, only to find it deflected again. He seemed to know exactly what I was going to do right before I did it. I stepped back into the surf, forcing him to follow.

I could see everything around me, thanks to ADHD. Ares tensed where he was going to strike, Nico and Grover standing 30 feet to the left, spectators of mortals, nature spirits, and souls from The Underworld. I could even hear The Fury’s from above.

“Put the guns on the ground!” a policeman called out.

Guns?

I looked at The War God’s weapon and saw it shimmered, sometimes a shotgun. I wasn’t sure what I was ‘shooting’ but I figured the mortals wouldn’t like it.

“This is a private matter! Begone!” Ares swiped his hand and a wall of red flame flew at the cars. The police barely had time to dive before the cars exploded, and went flying. 

“Now little hero, let's add you to the barbecue.” We kept slashing and blocking, but it was no use. 

I wasn’t going to beat him by swordsmanship alone.

I summoned waves, they were up to my back now,, and Ares was wading with them up to his thighs. Little waves, I thought, and the water receded, but the pressure of the water wanting to come back was building. I lowered my sword as if I was too tired to go on, and Ares slashed down on my head.

I used the pressure to push me over him, smacking his face with a huge wave.

I attacked again, and he deflected, but was much slower, as he was still disoriented. I changed directions, coming down and cutting him in the heel.

The roar that came from Ares made Hades’ earthquake look like a minor event.

A fifty foot wide circle of sand was pushed back from the god, as he looked at me with… Hatred? Disbelief he’d been wounded? Ichor flowed from his ankle as he limped towards me, muttering curses.

Something stopped him.

A darkness coated the skies. A cold, heavy presence weighed down on me, making me feel as if life was useless, as if I should just give up now. It lifted after a moment.

Ares looked stunned.

He lowered his sword.

“You have made an enemy, godling,” Ares sneered, “You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse.” he began to glow as Grover yelled, warning me to look away, “Beware.”

I looked away, knowing if I saw him in his true form I would burn to ashes. He vanished, leaving The Helm in the tide. I picked it up, and moved towards Nico and Grover.

The Fury’s beat me too. “We saw the whole thing...” she hissed, “It truly was not you?”

I tossed her The Helm, which she caught in surprise, “Return that to Lord Hades, tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war.”  
“”Stay a hero, Perseus Jackson. If not, if I get you in my clutches again...” she cackled.

I walked to my friends. “That was awesome!” the both said simultaneously, and I laughed.

“It didn't feel that awesome, but that's besides the point.” I said.

Grover looked around, “We need to find Annabeth and Bianca” Nico nodded in agreement.

I bit my lip, in thought. We needed to stop the war first. “We don’t have time. We need to be in New York by tonight.”

“Either way, that's impossible.” Nico said.

“Unless we fly?”

Grover looked at me in shock. “Your kidding.”

“Nope.”

Nico looked conflicted, “Just leave me. I’ll find my sister, then...”

“Your sister would kill me if I let you out of my sight for one second.” Nico rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Besides, she’ll be with Annabeth-'' If Annabeth is alive “-and she’ll probably have the same plan. She knows about the quest.”

Nico hesitated, then nodded his assent. “Okay, but what do you mean flying? Can you do that in the 20th century too?”

I said with dripping sarcasm “Oh, believe me, it’ll be fun.”


	8. Monster? More Often Than Not

Annabeth POV

I woke to a steady beeping in my ears as an argument went on in the background.

A girl's voice rang out "If you take me from my friend right now, I'll tell my father about that night you came home drunk a week ago while you were supposed to be watching me!"

A woman's voice, "You wouldn't dare-"

"I'd do it. You want that on your 'impeccable record' Jane?"

I opened my eyes slightly, so as to not alert them to my consciousness. The woman (I assumed she was Jane) was wearing a black dress shirt and beige, pressed pants. She had a clipboard pressed to her hip, and looked very agitated with the girl. The girl had brown hair just longer than her shoulders on her back, and what looked to be a school uniform that was dirty and torn.

Jane sent a deadly glare at the girl, scoffed, and left.

The girl turned to look at me, noticing how I was more tense than I must've been when I was knocked out. "You're awake! Thank God."

God, not gods. Noted.

I tried to sit up, but the searing pain in my arms and chest prevented me. "Oh yeah, your, umm... really hurt."

I summon all my energy, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Piper. Your friend Bianca, she-"

"Is she okay?" I cut in as the memories came rushing back to me. The attack, the boys using the 

pearls, me passing out as Bianca carried me, a cold feeling.

Piper shifted in her spot, "Well, she was covered in your blood when I found you, and she 

seemed pretty tired." she pursed her lips, "She ran off after there was a 'gas leak' saying something about finding a guy named Percy."

I noticed how she put her hands up and used her fingers to make quotations as she said gas leak. "Gas leak?" I croaked out

"Oh, there was some explosion over by the beach. They say it was just a gas leak that caused the explosion, you know, from the earthquake-" The earthquake? It must have been Hades, I thought, "-but yet they didn't talk about the huge ring of sand on the beach. The helis just flew over it like it was nothing, it was like they didn't even see it."

I frowned. I could understand mortals ignoring it if it was caused by a Godly being, but then why would Piper see it?

A demigod? Perhaps. A monster? More often than not.

"Here's the thing. I'm not judging you or anything, but there was another newscast. It said something about how a heroic boy named Percy Jackson fought off his leather clad captor in a 

gunfight. But they were still missing a blond, 12 year old girl. Now..."

"Ares." I accidentally said out loud, but I didn't care. Percy had fought Ares, and... "What happened?"

"They raised money to send him home to New York on a flight." New York. The quest.

"What time is it?"

"Uhm... about nine pm... same day as you passed out. Hey, can I ask you something?"

I figured I owed it to her, so as much as I wanted to ask more, I nodded.

"There was this bag. Yours, or Bianca's I'm not sure. It, er, had a dagger in it?" My eyes widened. She must have been a demigod.

How convenient.

"I need to get going." I said suddenly. I had to find Bianca, Get to Camp Half Blood with her and Piper (Piper was part of our girl trio now, assuming she didn't turn out to be a monster), and pray to the gods that Percy was already in New York.

I tried to sit up, but collapsed as Piper stood. "You need to rest. Your friends will be fine. I assume you're from New York? I could get you plane tickets." I looked at her, wondering how this 11 year old was going to get plane tickets across the country. She saw me looking and looked embarrassingly to the ground, "My father is kinda... rich and famous and totally doesn't pay attention to me?" she rushed out.

Mortal father, so the mom's the goddess. Noted.

I figured she wasn't going to kill me on first chance, since she hadn't yet.

"Okay, erm... was there a canteen in that pack of mine?"

She looked excited. I had not immediately shut her idea down, and scrambled to reach under 

the chair where she was sitting. She handed me my canteen.

"Okay, now... what do you know about Greek Mythology?"

She looked at me sceptically. "Basics. Why?" I sighed. That made my job a lot harder.

"Well you know the Olympians?" She hesitated and nodded, "Well they are real. And you're not 

going to believe me, I know the feeling." she froze, and I took the opportunity to continue. "The myths, the legends, the stories. They all happened. And the gods, they... moved to the most important part of society. So... New York." I then rushed out, "And I'm a demigod, a daughter of Athena. Bianca, Percy, they are demigods too."

She was frozen in disbelief, then her eyebrows scrunched together. "Okay" she said finally. 

"What?" she looked at me, now wearing a similar look of disbelief that she had held earlier. "It's way too unbelievable to be an elaborate lie. But why are you telling me?"

I pursed my lips. "Watch this." I decided, and lifted up the sheet laid on me to see a heavily 

bandaged chest. They had some wrapped around my chest, as to prevent bleeding. I glanced at my arm, which was also bandaged. "Take it off my arm." She looked at me like I was psycho, then when she saw my expression, she abided. I winced and it peeled off to show my scarred forearm.

"That's good" I took the canteen in my left hand, and poured a bit on my arm. The nectar flowed 

into the grooves of the cut, but it began to disappear as it was soaked in.

Piper gasped. "That's like, magic healing stuff?"

I laughed lightly. "Nectar. But yes. Now, another thing I need to test. Get my dagger." she pulled it out, "This is gonna sound crazy, but try to cut yourself. Lightly, it doesn't need to be too bad."

She cocked an eyebrow at me, then shrugged her shoulders in an almost 'why not?' sense. She 

took the edge of the dagger, and sliced it against her forefinger.

"Crap!" she flinched the dagger away from her hand and clutched her other hand. There was 

crimson dripping from it. "What was the point of-"

"You're a demigod."

Piper gaped at me. "What?"

"Your fathers mortal right? Well your mothers a goddess."

The girl tensed. "My mother left my father heartbroken and a workaholic, and doesn't even act like he has a daughter. Goddesses don't do that."

I flinched. "Actually, most Immortal beings do that. Believe me, I would know." I thought back to 

Virginia. Nope. Not following that thought process.

"So if you are a demigod, what are you doing here?"

"There's a big thing going on between the gods right now. Me and my friends are trying to prevent an all out war. Casual day. You?"

"Skipping school to piss off Jane. Casual day."

I thought about how in Hades I was gonna do this, "Well, first, we need to find Bi-"

That's when Piper nearly fell out of her seat, as a girl hidden in the shadows spoke. "No need."

"Bianca!" I threw off the sheets and ran over to her, giving her a hug. She froze for a moment then hugged back. 

"So you're a demigod too?" I jumped back from the hug, remembering Pipers in the room. Bianca glared at me, like 'why did you tell her?'. "Oh, Annabeth explained all that to me. I'm one too apparently."

Bianca gawked at the dagger in her hand. "Of course. I'm a daughter of Hades."

"Cool!"

"Anyway," I cut in. "Is everyone safe? Percy?"

I sat back down on the bed as Bianca claimed another chair beside Piper. "They should be in New York by now, assuming Zeus didn't get trigger happy."

I sighed in relief. We might be able to stop a war.

"Is no one gonna question how she just appeared from the shadows?"

Bianca opened her mouth to respond, but I beat her to the punch, "Umbrakinesis. Right?" The Daughter of Hades nodded. "Hey Piper?" The girl looked at me. "You were saying something about plane tickets?".


	9. Umbrella Kinisis

Bianca POV

"What in Hades happened down there?" Percy asked.

Bianca leaned over as to keep quiet from the mortals, "We were attacked."

Percy glared at her like 'well no shit', "By what?"

"Not what." Bianca cut in, "Who. Someone sent those monsters after us, not just my father."

I had followed the explosions to find Percy, Grover, and my brother being held by the cops. Most of the time I stuck to the shadows, but due to the earthquake no one really noticed a 12 year old girl covered in blood. For some reason, I was included as 'family' for Nico, and it said I was born in 1993 on my records as well.

Thanks, Dad.

"Who else would have that many monsters in our fathers realm?" I shook my head, mystified. This is one of those moments I wished Annabeth was here, seeing as she knew more about mythology than us four combined.

Annabeth.

I felt bad for leaving her there, but I had faith in her. If Piper was a monster, I'd apologise later. Other than that, I think she'll be fine.

"Percy?" He glanced over at me, "Do you have a watch or something?"

"Oh!" Nico held his wrists, showing a Lotus Casino wristwatch, "You can use it." He clipped it off of his wrist and handed it to me.

"Is there anywhere you guys can go after your quest?" I asked, remembering how the record of mine said Long Island.

Grover perked up at that, "Camp Half Blood. It's in New York. Long Island."

I nodded, deep in thought, "Nico, you go with them." my brother went to cut me off but I continued, "It'll be safer for you there. Besides, I need to find Annabeth." I explained to them how I had escaped with Annabeth, and had left her with Piper. Although I left the part out where I 'teleported', because, when I did it, it was almost the shadows welcoming me, like they wanted me to stay.

Nico didn't need to know that.

So I said that Hades has teleported us out.

My head snapped up as I sensed a rush of soul- no, people coming. "I need to head out." I gave Nico a hug, telling him to stay safe, and left the other two hanging. I then slinked out of sight, using Umbrakinesis when no one could see me.

I came out at Annabeths 'accident' site, in other words her last known location. I stumbled, but now was not the time to pass out from exhaustion. I looked around for a vantage point, and saw a Gray building shielding a tall brick one.

I focused on one last teleport. I appeared on the rooftop, on a part where no one else would go, except for maintenance. Most importantly, it was inaccessible to anyone.

I tucked myself behind a piece of wall, sat and leaned my back against it. I lifted the watch. 1:28. I set an alarm for half after 8; that teleportation really tired me out. I deserved a few good hours of sleep. In the meantime, Annabeth could be treated for her wounds, as long as she didn't run away immediately after waking up.

I passed out soon after laying down.

I awoke to a loud beep on my arm. I cracked an eye open and turned the watch off. Although I wasn't fully rested, I could tell it was beneficial.

I looked into the distance, and brought out some binoculars I had taken from a tourist stand (Percy could never) to look into the distance. To the south east I could see A building that stuck out from the others. I could tell from the binoculars, It was a hospital.

I put the binoculars back in my bag, and focused on travelling to not only the hospital, but Annabeth herself. I saw the picture in my mind, and felt as I became the shadows, as I used them to take me wherever I wanted to go.

"-ipping school to piss off Jane. Casual day." I heard Piper's voice say. I elected to stay in the shadows in case something had gone wrong.

"Well, first, we need to find Bi-"

As soon as I heard Annabeth's voice- "No need."

"Bianca!" She threw off her sheets and came over to me, hugging me.

I paused for a moment- I wasn't really a hugger, at least that what I told myself, but I didn't want to offend Annabeth, so I hugged back.

"So you're a demigod too?" Annabeth jumped back from the hug, and I felt a little offended but I pushed that down to the 'deal with later' section of my brain. I glanced at Annabeth, trying to relieve the tension I'd created, but I must have been glaring as she flinched slightly. "Oh, Annabeth explained all that to me. I'm one too apparently."

Bianca gawked at the dagger in her hand. "Of course. I'm a daughter of Hades." I said.

"Cool!"

"Anyway," Annabeth asked worriedly, "Is everyone safe? Percy?"

I faced away from Annabeth as I sat, rolling my eyes. Of course Percy was her first thought, not Grover, her 'best friend'. It didn't go unnoticed by Piper, who looked at me oddly, but didn't say anything. "They should be in New York by now, assuming Zeus didn't get trigger happy." It was something I was fairly confident on. If Zeus's bolt was on there, he would want it undamaged. It was the only reason I had allowed my brother up there.

"Is no one gonna question how she just appeared from the shadows?"

I went to explain, but the Daughter of Athena interrupted, "Umbrakinesis. Right?" I nodded, internally rolling my eyes. "Hey Piper?" Then she looked at Annabeth. "You were saying something about plane tickets?".

She grabbed her black backpack, and searched through it. "Ah ha!" she brought out what must have been about 2000$ in cash. 

Annabeth nearly choked on her own saliva. "Where did you get that?"

"Rich and famous Dad, remember?"

I scoffed; this was too good to be true. "And he just lets his 10 year old daughter carry around rolls of cash?" I looked to Annabeth to make sure that it was cash. For all I knew I could be throwing hands over just some pieces of paper.

"First:" Piper put her index finger up, "I'm 11. Second:'' she put her middle finger up with her other finger, creating two, "I was trying to piss off Jane by buying something unreasonable. It's not like my dad doesn't have the money to spare for us to fly somewhere."

"Okay, but I'm not getting on a plane. Flying? Nuh uh."

Annabeth nodded in assent. "It's bad enough me going on a plane when Zeus is angry about my quest. But a child of The Big Three? We'd be doomed."

I looked at her, question on my face, "What do you mean?"

She grimaced, "The Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and your father, Hades. The eldest gods. They all took a different area of the world. Zeus, the sky, Poseidon, the sea, Hades, the Underworld." Annabeth checked to see if I was following, "They have a rivalry. That's why you shouldn't get on a boat in the ocean, or a plane." she paused for a moment,

"You could try shadow travelling." We both looked at Piper, and she seemed a bit nervous from all the attention, "That's what that thing you were doing is, right? Umbrella Kinisis?"

"Umbrakinesis. I could try.... But... I would probably pass out, or go off course. That's a lot farther than just a couple streets of LA."

Annabeth said apprehensively, "You could stay with your father? Call in a favor or something."

I thought about it. As much as I hated the idea of running back to my father after he hurt my- "Are we friends?" I spit out randomly, and immediately scolded myself.

"I guess so, yeah. Unless you don't wanna be." Annabeth rushed out, "You know, we could just ignore each other or-"

"Friends. Okay." I saw Piper trying to contain her laughter, but didn't acknowledge it. "I could. I will."

"Okay, well I'll get Annabeth and me-" Annabeth glanced at her.

"Your coming?"

"Duh! Besides, my father won't be back from his filming in Germany for weeks!"

We all decided on the plan, and Annabeth and Piper left the room through the door, after telling me 'don't be reckless'. I took the shadows out.

DOA Recording Studios

Now is my time? Well use it good, Dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't required, but I felt as if we shouldn't skip any of the important bits to understanding whats happening with Bianca. Other than that; yes, everyone is separated. Like I said, they will get back together in about 2 chapters. Have a good day!


	10. Planes: 1/10 Experience

Percy POV

Nico squinted at the roof of the elevator. "This song sounds familiar."

"It's probably so outdated that you recognise it from the 1940's" I responded, and Grover nodded his assent. The music really was awful.

We had flown a plane all the way to New York before hailing a taxi. (1/10 experience, would not recommend for demigods other than children of Zeus) I vaguely remembered Annabeth talking about how she had visited Olympus on the winter solstice, and it being on the 600th floor of the empire state; believe it or not, I actually recalled that quite easily. Probably ADHD acting up.

Nico had sent a chill through the air, allowing us to all take the trip to Olympus. Poor desk-man.

I checked the time on the wall of the elevator; 8:30. We had made good time considering we had met the Di Angelos only this morning. Wow. That was an eventful day.

The elevator finally dinged open, opening to a jaw dropping sight.

I mean that literally. Me and Nico's mouths fell open in shock.

Because there was the peak of a mountain sitting, no, floating, over Manhattan. It had a winding path up to the tip, surrounded with nymphs and minor gods, each in their own condos. There was no one around, however, on what I figured were normally crowded streets. A grim feeling was floating in the air, coating me similar to the feeling I had felt on the beach.

Not as bad, though. I guess there was a difference between gods and... whatever was on that beach.

On the peak, the clouds were stormy surrounding a large door. We began sprinting up the path; the meeting would be starting soon. We arrived out of breath, and walked through the door.

In the throne room there was a semicircle of chairs made for gods. At the moment, only 2 were filled; one god on a grand and solid gold throne in the centre of the crescent. Another, to his left, was a god on what seemed to be a seat to might see on a fishing yacht. He was wearing a tropical button up, and resembled someone (I couldn't quite place it)

"Lord Zeus!" Nico gasped at the man in the centre. Zeus looked away from his heated discussion to the boy who had called his name.

"Who dares-"

"I come bearing your Master Bolt, uncle."

Zeus stared at me in shock, then gave a smug look to the man beside him. "Have you come to admit your crimes, then?"

"No." Zeus looked as if he wanted to interrupt but the god on the left intervened.

"Let my son speak."

Zeus sent a glare at Poseidon that made my hair stand on end. "You admit to him being your child? You admit to breaking our sacred oath?"

"I have admitted my wrongdoing. Now let the boy who collected your request speak."

Wrongdoing.

"I've spared him long enough. A child of yours in my domain?" He scoffed, "I should have blasted him out of the sky."

"And risk your Master Bolt? Let him speak."

I realized everyone was looking at me expectantly. I averted my eyes from my fathers, even though I could feel it calling to me.

I'd seen how parentage had worked out for the children of Hades.

"The bolt was not stolen because of my father. It was Ares"

The gods looked at me in shock. "You make very shocking accusations, godling." Zeus snarled.

"They're all true." The two gods hesitated, then waved me on. I explained most of the quest, excluding the bit about Nico and Bianca. I figured we should save them for later. I said instead that they had helped us to find Grover and left with us after we had discovered they were demigods.

I took the Master Bolt out from my backpack, and laid in front of the King God. He opened his hand, and the bolt magnetised to it. As he held it, it became larger, for what size I assume a god would find normal.

"I sense the boy speaks true but... Ares?"

"He is proud and impulsive." Then Poseidon spoke away so only us demigods could hear, "It runs in the family."

"Lord?"

"Yes?" they asked simultaneously.

I collected myself from the crushing power that stared down on me. "He didn't act alone. Someone- something else came up with the idea."

I described the dreams that had been cursing me lately. "A voice would tell me to bring the bolt to the Underworld. Ares hinted he had been having dreams of late as well. I think we were being used to start a war."

Zeus hardened his stare, "You are accusing Hades after all?"

"No." I shook my head, "I've met Hades. This feeling, the one on the beach, it felt... older. Like the feeling I felt in the presence of Tartarus."

The gods then went into a heated discussion in Ancient Greek. I didn't understand most of it, but I caught a few words, most notable being 'father'. My father made what looked to be a suggestion, but Zeus waved him off. "We will speak of this no more." he said angrily, "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal." he then looked at me, "'You three have done me a service. Few heroes could have accomplished as much."

"I wasn't only us-"

"As a thanks, I will spare your life. I do not like it, but for the sake of peace, you shall live for now."

I decided not to argue with that. "Thank you."

"Do not let me find you here, in the sky- anywhere near me again. Otherwise you will taste this bolt. And it shall be your last sensation."

A flash blinded me, and Zeus vanished with a dramatic bang.

"Your uncle has a thing for dramatics. I like to believe he would make a good god of theatre."

I paused, afraid to speak my thoughts. "Wha- Who was in that pit?"

"I think your companion knows." Poseidon nodded to Nico.

"Kronos?" Nico guessed reluctantly. The room seemed to chill itself and the hearth in the centre seemed more held back. As if it was edging away from the idea of The King of The Titans.

"I never thought I'd see the day a child of mine would be working alongside a child of one of my brothers." My father said, looking curiously at said boy.

I stepped protectively in front of him. "You leave him be." I demanded.

"Oh, I have no intent to hurt him, Perseus." I cringed at the use of my real name, "But his sister's existence may not be looked on kindly by your uncle. For now, his anger is at you, but soon..."

"What is it about Bianca?" I asked, remembering how Annabeth had acted when she had found out that the daughter of Hades was older than me. "You talk about her like she is planning to destroy you. She and Nico aren't like that."

Nico seemed lost in his own world. "He's healing. Kronos is." Nico said quietly.

It wasn't a question.

"There will be no discussion on that topic for now." I had a feeling he was referring to Kronos and Bianca the same.

"But-" I held back. Let's try to not piss off the only god who's partially on my side. "Hey Nico, Grover?" they looked at me, "Meet me in the lobby." I saw them both go to protest but I shook my head, signalling that I was being serious. They eventually submitted and left the room.

I looked back at Poseidon, who wore a faint smile. "Obedience... It does not come naturally to you, does it?"

"No. I- I mean, no sir."

"I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained." I wanted to say more, ask more, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. "You should go now, before Zeus returns. But first, you should know that your mother has been returned."

I felt a smile on my face as I heard the news. "Could you.... Would you...." I realised what I was about to ask was preposterous. I wanted him to visit my mother, but he was a god.

He gained a slight depression in his eyes. "There will be a package when you arrive." I went to ask what he meant but he raised his hand, telling me to stop. "You must decide what to do with it. You will see." I reluctantly nodded.

"I should go." said and at his nod I began walking away.

Poseidon called out to me just before I left, "Perseus!" I turned, "The children of Hades... Keep them close." I decided to not try to understand that and nodded.

There was now one last thing I needed to do before going to camp.


	11. Piper Is Always Third Wheeling

Annabeth POV

"Just- pose as my uncle on the way there," Piper shoved money into the man's hand, "And you can have all this." I stood to the side with my blue Yankees cap on.

The man looked poor, like the kind of person who only had enough money for lower class flights. The perfect person to bribe. He was a bit sketchy, but we would ditch him as soon as we got on.

He looked at the 1000$ roll in his hand. "Great! Sure. I'll do it." He said quickly. Mortals with no morals. It's sad how common that was.

Although I had a gradually growing theory as to why he might have agreed. But I would wait until we got to camp to be guessing godly mothers.

Piper followed him as he got in line. They handed him the tickets saying "We bought late, so we couldn't get seats next to each other." The desk man accepted it.

We got on the plane quickly. I shuffled quietly behind Piper so as to not alert anyone to my presence. Eventually we both made it on, the visible of us waving the man thanks, and he went to his seat.

The flight was fairly uneventful, other than me having to move around sometimes to avoid being caught. The invisibility cap really came in handy for that. The takeoff was turbulent, but I think that was Zeus getting lectured by three male demigods rather than him trying to crash us.

I prayed it was that.

We did the same pattern on the ground, posing as a niece and invisible human duo. Two for one! We then jumped in a taxi and beelined to camp. "Here!"

The driver looked at me oddly. "Are you sure? There's nothing here."

I nodded and he finally let us go. We ran up Half-Blood Hill, "Wait..." Piper said, "Hate to agree with the taxi guy, but there is nothing here."

I smiled and waved my hand towards me, signalling her to follow me. She did reluctantly. We finally came over the crest of the hill, passing Thalia as I heard a shocked gasp come from my left. The camp probably was unbelievable to her, but what concerns me is that I didn't see anyone celebrating Percy's return, or even the daughter of Hades's likely shocking appearance. Piper seemed to catch up to my thinking, "I'm sure they're fine. It's not like The Camp looks like a war zone. We just beat them here." I nodded, knowing she had a point.

"Annabeth!" I heard a voice call.

"Luke!"

I ran up to him and jumped into his arms. "Gods, we thought..."

"I'm not sure what happened with Percy and Grover, we got separated. But I know they made it to New York before the summer solstice ended."

"Oh" He sighed in what I assumed was relief, "That's good."

"Hate to be a third wheel...."

I jumped back from Luke's arms, "Right- er- this is Piper, a demigod we found on our quest. She's unclaimed."

Luke nodded, gaining his smile that made most girls his age swoon, "Piper, how about I show you around, while Annabeth goes to alert Chiron of her arrival." she looked worried, but I sent her a reassuring nod.

I made my way to The Big House; thankfully the sun hadn't risen yet, so no one was up. I finally opened the door, to see Chiron standing warily over by his window. "Chiron?"

He turned quickly, and I saw relief in his eyes. "Annabeth!" He trotted over to me quickly. "We thought that the quest had failed."

I smiled, but it came out as more of a grimace. "Me and Percy got separated. But they should have been here in time to prevent the war." I then said under my breath, "As long as Zeus didn't get trigger-happy." I quoted. I know Chiron heard it, but he didn't say anything.

"You should tell me of your quest."

I was weary of telling him about Bianca (and Nico, but she was more notable thanks to her age) but I should before things went wrong.

So I did. I talked about everything, and he didn't interrupt, even when I talked about The Children of Hades. Instead he just gained a notable furrow in his eyebrows. I finished after a while, and I could see out the window that people were starting to awaken.

He shook his head in exasperation. "Go tell the others you've arrived. I-" I wanted to discuss Bianca's fate a bit more, but I could tell that protesting would get me nowhere, "-need to... think on this." I nodded solemnly.

I stepped outside, and saw Travis spot me. "Annabeth's back!" Everyone began crowding me, and I told everyone that we were safe, even if I was lying, I didn't want panic. I stood around for a while before I sent a begging glance to Piper. Get me out of here.

She yelled out, "Look, a son of Hephaestus is trying to use a bow!" Everyone turned, because that would be hilarious to watch (It's rare). I quickly snatched my cap from my pocket and vanished, crawling under everyone's legs. I made my way to the Athena cabin.

"You okay?" Piper asked from the doorway.

I nodded, my cap now off, "I'm fine with the attention but... I'm lying to them really." The brunette came from her spot in the doorway, "What if we are doomed? What if-"

"-Percy, Nico and Grover are fine?" she finished. "Look, they seem smart, maybe not as smart as you, but..." I chuckled, now realising I had a tear running down my cheek. "If anyone is going to save the world, it's them."

Surprisingly, the speech actually made me feel a bit better. But there was something about the way she spoke...

"Besides, you survived being attacked by Hades, various monsters, a hypnotising hotel, and more right?"

The hotel... "Charmspeak!"

Piper looked at me like I was crazy, "What?"

"No- your voice!" I stood up and began pacing around the cabin. "You're using charmspeak! It's how you convinced that guy to play as you Uncle, how you got the police to leave you alone, heck, how you got everyone to look away from me."

She put her hands up, "Whoa. Back up. What do you mean?"

"Charmspeak is like a hypnotising thing. You, if you were powerful enough, could control people's minds."

She looked slightly fearful, but confused as well. "Why can't I just do that to Jane or my Dad whenever, like accidentally?"

"You do, but you're still 11. Most powers amplify by 13. And it would make you really tired."

"Do you..." Piper hesitated, "Do you know who my mother is?"

I nodded. "Aphrodite."

"Won't she claim me now, or?"

I shrugged. "She doesn't really claim her kids till they get old enough to go from 'Cute!' to 'Drop Dead Gorgeous!' you know?"

"I guess that makes sense." I saw her look down in a blush.

I thought for a moment. "You don't really seem the type to stay in the Aphrodite cabin-"

"Yeah that place is gonna give me some kinda breathing problems with all the perfume concoctions."

I laughed, "So until you're officially claimed, you can stay in the Hermes cabin. They take all unclaimed, so it's a bit cramped, but other than that." I shrugged my shoulders.

She nodded, "I'll do that then. Thanks."

"Other than that, you should talk to Silena Beauregard. She can charmspeak as well." Piper nodded.

I heard shouts from outside, and we both made our way to the door. "Whoa, that girl just teleported!" I heard Travis say. Only one girl could qualify for that.

Bianca.


	12. Comfort? Never Heard Of Her

Bianca POV

I stumbled out of the shadows; The Hospital to The Underworld was quite a far distance.

"Bianca?" I heard Hades say.

I grit my teeth. "Dad." My voice sounded strained while calling him that.

He looked the same, but his throne room? It was far from perfect. I saw that there were many new skeleton guards, having been recently replaced. The throne room looked to be in shambles, and golden dust decorated the floor.

"This will be cleaned soon, don't you worry." Hades said.

"I'm not staying."

He frowned. "But why come here then?"

I knew I was supposed to be here getting myself to New York. "Why were we in that hotel?"

He hesitated, "I-"

"Can't tell me?" I sighed. "My mom?"

He paused again, "She was killed in the war."

"What war?"

He gained a look that I could've sworn made him 10 years older. "There was a... big war going on while you were young."

I asked almost fearfully, "Who was in it?"

"Everyone." He looked at me, and I knew he didn't want me to know, that he still saw me as his 12-year old daughter who didn't deserve to know about war. I sent him a look, telling him I could handle more. "It was the deadliest war in human history."

I felt my eyes widen. "Is that why you hid us?"

"Yes."

I paused. It was too simple. If anything, I would expect him to make us fight in the war. "Did demigods fight in it too?"

"Yes."

"Were..." I paused, thinking how to word my question, "Did I have any siblings?"

He sighed. "A few. Most notably, Adolf. But you have another reason for being here, don't you?"

I nodded, realizing I wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "I need to get to Long Island. You know where."

He pursed his lips. "I will send you there. But be careful. I have brought you a hero's fate." a hero's fate is nothing but tragic. I had heard that somewhere, although I couldn't place it. "You should be off."

I stood straight, pretending that the aftereffect of shadow travel (That term Piper had used was much less wordy; I liked it) wouldn't bother me. "Thank you, Lord."

He waved his hand, and I felt the darkness wrap around me. It wouldn't take me all the way, though, so I gave it a bit of my power.

"Woah, that girl just teleported!" I heard a voice say. I looked around from my place on the grass to see the boy who had spoken stand with someone who looked to be his identical twin.

A crowd began forming, and I saw two people pushing their way to the front. "Bianca?"

I tried to walk forward to meet Annabeth, but I felt my knees give out. Piper and her ran forward to catch me. "Alrighty, that's too much power for me today." I slurred. Then I passed out.

I awoke to the sight of a white room. I felt two others sitting beside my bed. I summoned as much strength as I could, and turned my head to see Piper asleep on a chair beside the bed. I looked at the floor, where Annabeth sat, her back leant against the bed. A blue cap was set on her lap, and she was still wearing the same waterland shirt she had been when we met. She was still covered in dirt from the Underworld; she hadn't left me since I passed out.

I looked out the window in the room to see that the sun was shining brightly, meaning I had been here for a good part of the day (I vaguely remembered that it had been dawn when I arrived. I guess time was faster in my fathers kingdom). "You're awake." Annabeth must have felt the bed shifting around from where her head was rested and awoken. "Thank gods. You were freezing cold and pale for a while and I- I was scared that-"

"I'm alright." I stopped her rambling. "I guess I put a little more effort into that then I should've."

"And you won't be doing that again." She looked over to Piper and bit her lip. "Should we?"

I looked at the girl on the chair. "Let her rest, she needs it. As do you." I cocked an eyebrow, and dramatically checked her out from feet to head. She turned away and fumbled with her cap. "You look like a corpse. I would know."

The blond rolled her eyes, "Fine, but you're doing the same thing." I nodded and threw my feet over the edge of the bed. I went to stand but Annabeth put her hand on my chest, holding me back. She took out a cube of... something and held it out to me. "Ambrosia. You're still pale."

I sighed and took it from her, and shoved it in my mouth. It tasted- odd. It almost didn't have a taste, really.

"It should taste like your greatest comfort food." Annabeth said, spotting the odd frown on my face.

I shook my head. "I guess I don't remember my comfort food. Lethe, you said?" Annabeth nodded, "Well it doesn't have a taste. So maybe it will gain one when I find a comfort food."

Annabeth seemed to accept that, though I knew she would research it later. I stood shaikly, and she grabbed my waist to keep me upright. After a moment, I was able to slowly walk myself out to the porch.

I looked out to see a- "Centaur?" I looked to my right, where Annabeth stood. "You're joking."

"Nope. That is Chiron." she responded

"Thank you for the formal introduction, Annabeth" I quickly turned to see that Chiron was already here (I guess being able to gallop had its advantages). "Bianca, that is your name, yes?"

"Er- that's the one. Sir where is Ni- Percy and Grover?"

He smiled knowingly, "They arrived a few hours ago-"

"WHAT?" Annabeth shouted, and I had to agree with her. "I said I wanted to know the moment they got here!"

"Percy, and-" he turned to me, "-your brother disagreed. They wanted you to rest."

"Where?" We asked simultaneously.

"I believe they are hiding from the 'paparazzi' in Cabin 3." We both ran down the stairs to the cabins. I would have asked what paparazzi were, but I didn't need to; I could see for myself. There were people milling around, searching for Percy and Nico, likely to question them about the quest.

"You take the cap. Wear it and you turn invisible." I went to protest but she continued, "I know my way around this place. I can sneak in. You don't and there is no way you're using anymore Underworld powers today."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine." I put the cap on and held out my hand, which I could no longer see. "This is way too overpowered." Annabeth shrugged. She slipped off into the forest, I assumed to sneak in somehow.

I moved through the crowd, before finally arriving at the porch of the Poseidon cabin. I tentatively knocked. No one answered. "It's Bianca, assholes!" I yell-whispered. I heard and felt someone quickly get up and move towards the door, so I took off the blue cap. The door opened with Nico at the door.

He ran into my arms and hugged me. "Be cute siblings later, and hide!" Percy whispered from the inside. We separated and moved inside, Nico closing the door behind me. "I'm glad you're okay. Where is-" a knock came from the window.

"They found the window!" Grover trembled.

I walked calmly towards the window, ignoring the boys' protests. "Hey." Annabeth said as I pulled her in.

"Oh." They all said at the same time. Then they realised who it actually was, "Oh! Annabeth!" Grover and Percy said, running over to hug her.

"What'd we miss?" So we all sat and exchanged stories. Apparently the boys had stopped at Percy's apartment to 'get some clothes'. I didn't believe a word coming out of Percy's mouth, as for how he cleverly left out most of what his stepfather was doing? I was grateful; whatever was going on wasn't good with him, and Nico didn't need to know about that. We would talk later.

I told them how we had shadow travelled out (Nico looked a bit hurt that I had lied to him about how we had gotten out of the Underworld the first time, but he didn't say anything) and how Piper had been with Annabeth while I had found them. The girl beside me chimed in, explaining how she and Piper had bribed their way onto the plane.

"Wait, McLean?" Percy Interrupted Annabeth, "Like Tristan McLean?"

Annabeth snapped her fingers, "That's why it sounded familiar. He must be her father."

We continued, I explained that I went to my father and he agreed, no questions asked (Annabeth was not taking any of the shit I was serving, I would talk to her about what I discovered later).

We finished our exchange. "Now what?" Grover asked.

"Now we deal with the paparazzi"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pre-warning you- The next 2 chapters are called Luke pt.1 & pt.2 and they will lead into the angst that will be the beginning of ACT II/ SoM


	13. Luke (Part 1)

Percy POV

It had been about three weeks since I'd met Nico and his sister.

At first, everyone seemed to edge away from them after discovering who their father was. But our group of 5 always stuck with them. With Piper came Silena and the Stoll brothers, with Annabeth came her brother Malcolm and occasionally Clarisse (although she still seemed miffed that I had defeated her father in battle), and with me came drawn attention.

Everyone got used to our irregular group, and began to treat us normally.

Nico had been training with me and Luke for sword fighting, but no blade would work for him. Chiron said that there should be a weapon forged in the Underworld in his grasp, but we couldn't find one.

Bianca held the same issue, so she focused more on training her powers. Her 13th birthday passed (biologically, of course) and she was happy to find that her father had discreetly sent her a sword made with 'Stygian iron'. It was black, but if the light hit it right it would look almost blue with an intricate golden looking guard leading into golden thin lined wrapping the blade. 

We found the blade worked better for her, and hoped Nico would receive a similar gift when he turned 11. Other than that, Luke ended up teaching him more theory than anything (the siblings were abysmal with archery and wrestling like me). Nico grew close to Luke in a brotherly bond, and they actually made a really fun duo when they wanted to.

Grover got his searcher's license through and through, seeing as he returned 3 more demigods, two of which were children of The Big Three. The goodbyes were sad, seeing as his mission was supposedly doomed, but we still had a toast in his honor every night.

I saw Piper approach me from my spot in the arena. "We need to talk." She said in an urgent tone.

I frowned, but let her lead me near the edge of the forest, where I saw Bianca waiting. "You got the guy, now what is it Piper?" Bianca asked.

"I was with Silena- I was training my charmspeak- when Luke pulled her aside and-"

"They're close," I shrugged.

She bit her lip. "I followed them, and they kinda hid around a corner, where no one would see them-" she put her hand up, preventing Bianca from mocking what I assumed would be Charlie's reaction when he 'finds out his crush is going out with someone else'. "They were talking about preventing deaths or something, and Luke asked her to keep an eye out for him when he was gone."

Everyone went silent.

"You're saying Luke's a spy." I accused.

Bianca hesitated, "It would make sense, the guy seems pretty pissed about the gods treatment of us. The shoes that dragged Grover to the edge of Tartarus should have been worn by you too, and Luke gave them away. He wanted you to die. And she's saying that there could be multiple spies, which is also why we didn't bring Ann or my brother. They might tell Luke, they are close to him."

"Who would he be a spy for?" Piper asked.

I had one idea, but it wasn't a good one. Not in the sense that it was unlikely, but that it was something I didn't want to even consider.

I asked tentatively. "What about the voice in the pit?" Piper looked confused while the Daughter of Hades was in deep thought. "Don't say his name. Names have-"

"-Power." Bianca finished. "That thing is what sent Nico the dream message. It wanted you to meet my father with The Master Bolt. Male." I didn't know what the Italian meant (Her and Nico turned out to be naturals with it, so they and Annabeth were learning/relearning it.)

"Luke's working with The King of Titans." I realised.

"Molto male."

Piper held her arms around her chest and began pacing back and forth. "There's no way. Luke wouldn't betray Annabeth like that."

"If he thought he was doing the right thing, he might." Bianca deliberated, "If he thinks Annabeth would agree with him- which she would never- then he'll do anything. Even lie, even destroy the gods."

That grim realisation is what confirmed it for me. Because- "My prophecy." the girls turned to me in question. "I lied to you guys a bit. The first 2 stanzas, 'You shall go west and face the god who has turned' and 'Yet angels reside in the land of no age' happened. But there were 2 more lines. They-"

Bianca cut in, "You lied to us?"

"No, I- I didn't want you to worry. The lines were," I hesitated, "'You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend' and 'You shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.'. The last one, that was about me leaving my mother in the Underworld, but she was returned later. I figured that the first one meant Ares but..."

"It was talking about Luke." Piper helped me finish.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I just can't believe he was our enemy his whole time."

Bianca consoled me, "Maybe he wasn't with them this whole time. Maybe he just joined the cause after the winter solstice, or-"

"Luke." the girls watched as I stood with an expression of panic washing over my face. "He's The Lightning Thief."

Everyone went silent again.

"What do we do?" Piper asked into the wind, "What can we do?"

"Keep him and Silena close, watch what she does and if she keeps lying we confront her. Lie." Bianca said, shrugging. "See if we can't get any proof that can be taken to the gods."

So we did. I made sure to do crowd control and never leave Nico and Luke alone together. I couldn't do the same for Annabeth, but I had faith that she would be able to fight him off if something were to happen.

Before I knew it, my birthday passed, and the decision of whether or not to leave camp or stay was slapped on my (or should I say Peter Johnsons) face.

I walked into the arena, not searching for anything in particular but just roaming, to find Luke decimating some straw dummies. "Oh, hey Percy." He saw me looking.

"What's wrong with that blade?" I spit out as soon as I noticed it. Stupid ADHD. The blade looked to be made with two different metals.

He chuckled. "Oh this? This is my new toy. Backbiter. Celestial bronze and tempered steel. Works on everyone."

My eyes widened. It wasn't definitive proof that Luke was the enemy, but it was as close as we had gotten in the last week or so.

"Cool." I said.

He smiled, and put his sword down. "Hey, I was hoping you could join me on a monster hunting date tonight, if you're free?" Luke asked in a sarcastic tone. "No but really, I think it would be lonely, and-" He pulled a six-pack of coke out of his bag, "-dinner's on me."

Us, alone, deep in the woods. Where no one could hear my screams. Not suspicious at all. I figured I should go along with it, after all it would seem suspicious if I turned down actual soda. Besides, I'll just have Bianca trail silently behind us. She would blend in well with the shadows cast by foliage.

"Sounds great!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes. There will be 2 more chapters after this one. Also, (I think I'm supposed to do this) the next chapter will contain some descriptive violence. It's not too bad, but it's notable. Just let me know if I should tone it down or such.


	14. Luke (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theres a bit of violence in this next chapter, just pre warning, its not too bad.

Annabeth POV

I was reviewing some Ancient Greek writing with Bianca when Percy rushed into the room. "Oh, er, sorry for interrupting. I was just coming to talk with Bianca, but-"

"You can go." I said in a tight voice. People had told me I had been a bit more irritable lately, and I wasn't trying to be, It was just that something was going on. And no one, no matter how much I pestered them, would clue me in.

Nico, I believed. He seemed genuinely concerned about his sister and Percy's continued secrecy. Piper was using charmspeak when she talked about why she was spending time with the older children of The Big Three. I hated to admit that I didn't trust her at all anymore.

And Bianca? I wasn't sure about her.

She was an... interesting case. As far as I could figure, she had no tell to see if she was lying. I mainly focused on pressuring Percy to tell me but there was one nagging reason I hadn't given up on getting info out of specifically her; she was the current placeholder for The Great Prophecy. I had to make sure she was on the right side. That she trusted them, trusted me.

And on top of all that, she was a child of Hades. I had begun to trust her, regardless of her parentage.

But I shouldn't have even tried.

"Oh, thanks!" Percy said. One thing I had noticed is that they were making sure I wouldn't eavesdrop on them by always keeping one person near me. That person was usually Piper, but sometimes Percy would drag me to the arena so I couldn't trail Bianca or Piper. The meetings were planned.

But judging by the sheer urgency in Percy's eyes, this was unplanned. Which meant I could trail them.

Bianca stood and quickly followed the raven haired boy out the door. I collected my Yankees cap from its spot on my bed, stuck it on my head, and slipped out the doorway.

"-Luke invited me to head into the forest for some monster hunting. Alone."

Bianca shook her head, exasperated. "Where no one would hear your screams?" Huh? Why would they be joking about that? Then again, Bianca had a dark sense of humor.

"Glad we're on the same page. I need you to keep an eye out for me. He's the best sword fighter in the century, so I'd like it if it was two against one." I could have passed this off as sarcasm, but Percy never joked about stuff like this.

Bianca bit her lip. "3 to 1 would be better."

Percy looked questioningly at her, "Piper isn't much of a fighter yet, and-"

"No. I mean Annabeth." Percy looked ready to protest, "She's suspicious of us. And she deserves to know before someone gets hurt."

"She would never believe us. Luke and her are family, if we suddenly went up to her and said, 'Oh, Luke actually is the reason we had to go on a quest in the first place because he's a traitor' do you think that would go down well?" My eyes bulged out of my head, but I stayed in my spot.

No way.

He couldn't...

He could.

He would never want that.

He resents the gods.

He was always on your side.

You never said anything good about the gods either.

"I gotta get going, just stick to the shadows." Percy said, interrupting my anxiety.

Bianca agreed by stepping into the shadow between two cabins, making her nearly invisible. The boy looked away, and made his way to the arena, I followed, invisible. He wouldn't.

I watched as he met with Luke, as they walked into the thick woods, going farther away from camp than anyone should. I watched as they paused at the shore of the same creek from where Percy was claimed. I watched as Luke sat, and Percy claimed a spot next to him. He wouldn't.

"You miss being on a quest?" He wouldn't.

I watched the conversation in a blur. I only took in what seemed important. I watched as he talked about Thalia and his quest, how he threw the coke can into the creek. I watched as Percy put his hand in his pocket, where Riptide would be. I watched as Luke summoned a scorpion, when Percy already had his sword drawn. He would.

Luke seemed shocked. "You were suspicious of me? And don't lie, you went straight for that sword of yours."

"Are you really that shocked? The way you talk about the gods... It was the only explanation."

Luke laughed, "But would Annabeth not be just as qualified? Clarisse?"

Percy shook his head, "Clarisse was a bully, not an enemy. No one knew about what her father had done. And in the short time that I knew Annabeth, it seems I got to know her better than you ever-"

"She would agree with me!" I shook my head, even though I was invisible. "She knows what the gods did to Thalia, they are the reason she is dead." I wouldn't. Not now. Not like this.

I drew my dagger. "You are being used, he doesn't care about your dreams or obligations. He cares about winning."

"That's good enough for me."

"Why is Annabeth not here?" Percy asked, "I mean, if she would really be on your side-" I had one huge, brilliant idea. That scorpion was gonna kill Percy, and Luke would vanish. Not when it came to me though. And if I could keep him distracted for Bianca...

I threw my dagger, and it hit its target; Percy's shin, a.k.a the scorpion. "She wouldn't." I took my cap off and nonchalantly used my foot to put an opposite force on my pulling of the dagger. It pulled the dagger out of Percy's shin, and I shoved him aside with my foot, where his fingertips touched the water. Hopefully that would keep him alive.

Luke's mouth hung open in disbelief, "A-Annabeth? How-"

"You really think Percy would not tell me if he thought you were a risk?" Well he didn't...

I watched as a certain girl stepped out of the shadows, Stygian iron sword and all. "Can't you see what he's doing? He's manipulating you to work with the gods!"

"Percy doesn't have a manipulative bone in his body." Bianca approached silently from behind, lifting her sword. There was a shake in her hands, which I would have too if I was asked to kill a fellow demigod. Anyone would. Even the daughter of Hades.

Luke looked downcast. "I'm doing the right thing. I don't want to see you hurt-" Bianca hesitated her stabbing motion.

"It's too late for that." I said, realising a tear was running down my cheek. Luke, I'm sorry, Luke...

Bianca moved the blade towards right behind his heart; a perfectly executed stabbing motion. Luke must have sensed the blade at the last moment, and dove forward, causing the Daughter of Hades to have to readjust her strike. The sword edged down to where Luke lay, and thrust it into just on the left side of his left thigh. He screamed in agony, as Bianca dislodged the sword, pulling out a huge amount of flesh on the left side of his bone. It looked as if a gator had taken a huge bite out of his leg, to the point where you could see the bone.

He dragged his sword out of its scabbard, Bianca unmoving, staring at the blood that soaked her hand and blade from her actions. He let out a defiant yell, and slashed his sword through the air, where he rippled and vanished.

I slowly approached where Luke had stood, falling to my knees. I brushed my hand on the hole in the ground where Bianca had pierced him, where his blood was spilt. Luke...

After what could have been a minute or an hour, I stood, raising my eyes to Bianca's. She was staring at the blood that soaked her hand and forearm in almost a childlike wonder. The orange on the lower part of her camp shirt had specks of crimson. She finally looked at me, her eyes glistening, and I could see the pure hatred for herself, for doing that, for probably getting him killed. I stepped forward, and wrapped my arms around her waist, hugging her, tears streaming down my face. Luke...

She paused, then hugged my shoulders, rocking slightly back and forth as I sobbed into her shoulder. I was faintly aware of how Lukes blood would leave a print on my back forever, no matter how much I washed it. It would always be there. I heard the Son of Poseidon eventually stand, and how he went up to a wood nymph, presumably to get help.

Eventually Chiron along with some children of Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite arrived. I felt Percy silently rest his hand on my shoulder, and guide me back to camp. I never let go of Bianca's hand. She was the only one who could really understand.

The only one who carried the same burden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that got dark quick. I feel like Annabeth's reaction to Luke's betrayal was so underwhelming in the books. So I added some zest, and I'm wondering if you like it or you think it's OOC. Have a good day!


	15. Morpheus Must Be Having A Field Day

Bianca POV

"Go."

Percy looked up in what I assumed was a startled manner; I hadn't spoken out loud for about 5 hours. Not since Luke.

"To Manhattan. Your mom. Go."

He shook his head. "I'm not going to go hide. I don't care if L- he is dead or whatever. There will be more. I need to deal with Silena, train Nico-" He said it with no room for argument.

I argued anyway, leaning forward from my spot beside the infirmary bed where Percy lay. "There are others that can do those things. It doesn't have to be you."

"I don't care. I can visit my mom occasionally, and help the camp at the same time. I'm staying."

He was stubborn. I respected that. "Okay. But you wait until that shin of yours heals first." I gave him what must have been a grimace, before I stood. "After that, we have work to do."

"Fine, but get some rest soon!" He shouted after me.

I left his side, and made my way to Cabin 5 (I'm too lazy to check if that's the Athena Cabin, I'm just going by memory). I stepped inside. Me and Annabeth had parted ways there, and as far as I knew she hadn't left. After I had dropped her off, I quickly gathered me and Nico's things from Cabin 12 and moved them to the Big House; I knew the children of Hermes wouldn't take well to what I had done. Chiron didn't argue. The Athena kids had stayed out of their cabin for the time being.

I didn't see Annabeth at first, so I checked for a life force. There was none, but I had learned since Luke that I couldn't sense her presence if she was wearing her cap. I looked around, before my vision landed on a certain dagger that was lodged into the wall. I followed the opposite direction from where it was pointing and walked over to a spot of wall, stopping just before hitting it. My index finger chose a spot on the wall, and dragged itself downwards until I was kneeling, as it stopped as I felt a cloth cap. I brushed my thumb over what felt to be her forehead, and took the cap off.

She looked as if she had fallen asleep in exhaustion, her blond curls matted on her forehead and an almost peaceful look on her face. My eyes traced the tear stains on her cheek, and how her forehead was slightly creased, a similar look to the one she would give when she didn't understand some part of Italian when I did. My eyes drifted down her face-

"Luke..." she mumbled as she squirmed in her spot.

She repeated his name again before I grabbed her shoulders and shook lightly. "Annabeth, wake up. Annabeth. You're having a nightmare, it's not real."

Her eyes shot open and she stopped squirming until her eyes met mine. She flinched away from my touch, and I jumped back. I had been closer than I had thought to her. Her eyes looked distressed.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I..."

"There's nothing to apologize for." I said softly. "You were just having a nightmare."

Annabeth was silent for a moment, and she looked away from me to the ground. "It was... You killed Luke." I wanted to say something, but my lips refused to give way. "But he was good in that dream. He wasn't good this time." The cabin went silent again.

"I'm sorry. For all of it. I'm sorry that I lied to you, I'm sorry that I broke your trust, I'm sorry for giving you nightmares, I..." I'm sorry I was jealous of Percy for a little while, because I was. And I don't know what was wrong with me in those moments.

She paused, searching my eyes for something, though I wasn't sure what. Something to hate? Something to trust?

"I should get cleaned up." She stood and left me sitting in the centre of her mothers cabin, wondering how I had fucked up so bad. It was how Nico found me 30 minutes later, staring blankly at a wall. He said nothing, presumably adjusting to the mood I had set, and put her hand out for me to grab.

I paused, then reached for his hand, helping to pull me from my spot on the ground. We walked out of the cabin with her a few feet behind me. "I messed up." I said miserably, in almost a whisper, "I did the wrong thing."

"You did what anyone would have done." Nico said, "You did the right thing. Annabeth knows that."

I shook my head. "Annabeth won't trust me. Ever. She sees it as my fault, my crime when she's on the criminals side." I said it and I knew it was true. Luke was her family, and watching me, a Daughter of Hades, supposedly kill him went against everything she had been fighting for for the past 5 years. I turned and gazed up at Half-Blood Hill.

She had told me about Thalia, before, when we were still learning to trust each other, before Piper had discovered Luke's secret. How she had sacrificed herself to protect her family. Thalia gave her life for Grover, Luke and Annabeth.

She had been killed by monsters my father had sent.

I hated him for that. For causing Annabeth so much pain. For making Luke believe that my father represented all god's actions.

"I convinced Percy to go." My brother said, and I refocused on him. "He said it's what you wanted, but we've been closer lately, so I sawy him better."

"That's good."

Nico looked at me with pity. "I'm going to get some sleep. You should too."

I rolled my eyes, "Am I that bad? Percy said the same thing." I asked in a monotone.

"You really are." Nico said with reproaching sarcasm.

I agreed, and made my way to The Big House with Nico behind. I sent a look at Chiron, saying 'Later', and collapsed in the new makeshift bed. I assumed Percy had requested it put in here.

I layed for a few hours till the sun set in a peaceful sleep. I awoke to Annabeth on her knees, begging me to forgive her stupidity-

Ha! You better not have fallen for that.

Nope, Morpheus felt the need to curse me with nightmares. Thanks, dude.

I stood in what looked to be a camp cabin, but it was unlike any of the cabins that sat in Camp Half-Blood. The wall I faced first wes a black pine, tinged with gold veins and roots. The wall was decorated in different things that were hung, all of which I recognized. The watch from the Lotus Hotel and Casino, Annabeth's invisibility cap, my sword, to name a few.

But my eyes veered to the top edging of the wall, where blood, Luke's blood, ran from the ceiling, spilling upon, my memories, staining my legacy.

The dream suddenly shifted. "My lord." Luke's voice called out.

"You have failed, boy." A voice reverberated around the darkness.

"I tried, my lord, but that cursed Hades girl-"

"I don't care about your 'buts'!" The voice roared. "I will not punish you, seeing as what the girl did was fitting enough. Go now, await my command."

"Y- yes, my lord."

My eyes shot open and I jumped straight up. "Hey, hey, sorry. It's Nico."

"Oh, sorry. What is it?" I asked my brother.

He glanced at my forehead. "You were having a nightmare?"

I nodded.

"Well Percy is about to head to Manhattan. I figured you would want to come say goodbye with me." I nodded in agreement, and got up from my sleeping bag. "Oh, and don't think I'm letting that dream slide. We will talk. Later." I sighed, but I knew he had my best interests at heart.

"Maybe you should be the older sibling. Seeing as you're worrying over me so much."

He laughed as we walked outside, and made our way to the hill, "You need it."

I smirked slightly. "Hey, Bianca!" Percy called as he saw me, "Glad you came."

I noticed Annabeth was there too, and avoided eye contact. We all exchanged goodbyes, my brother in particular. Percy hugged him, and after he had pulled away, Nico turned right around to hide behind me. I wiggled my eyebrows at him, and he sent me a glare that said 'fuck you'. I laughed lightly.

Nico and Percy. I smiled. "I can live with that relationship." I said quietly so only my brother heard. He elbowed me lightly.

I watched as Percy walked down Half-Blood Hill, looking back one last time before finally leaving to the van driven by Argus.

"He'll be okay for now."

I replied indirectly to Annabeth, "We'll be okay for now, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea, ofc they have a rivalry now. We still have 4 ACTS to go, I gotta draw this out. (The 2 chapters today is because I figure you deserve something cause I don't post on weekends)


	16. ACT II

So if you have made it to this point, I thank you either for holding out patience as the chapters release, or for not immediately leaving (If your from the future and are reading this as its complete, and if so, hi!)

This act will contain the timeline, or at least similar to the timeline for The Sea Of Monsters.

I have thought long and hard about this (as I have written up to here on the day I released Monster? More Often Than Not) and have decided to add Piper as a POV. She's an important character, and she deserves her perspective.

This act will contain a lot more Percico content, so if that's why you're here, brace yourself. Biancabeth will play a role, (as always) but the type of content will change, in the idea it's gonna be a bit more angsty. Your daily dose of fluff will come from Percy's POV.

I have also been debating who I want with Piper as an endgame. Jiper? Pipeyna? Something else? I was originally going to do Piper/Reyna but I know some people view her as an Asexual character who isn't necessarily Aromantic, but joined the Hunters, and I don't want to botch that for you. Lemme know. (And yes, in case you were wondering, this is slight foreshadowing)

Also, any specific sexuality that a character should be that fits in with these ships? Everyone else is kinda up in the air. SO far, I've been thinking this:

Bianca - Lesbian

Nico - Gay

Annabeth - Omnisexual (I will 100% admit I chose this for her because this is what I secretly identfy as, though I publicly identify as Bi. Idc to admit this on here because ANONUMITY)

Percy - Bisexual

Piper - Lesbian (Ik some of ya'll are gonna be like 'what about Jason?' but I feel like that was partially the mist, and partially hetoronormacy)

Reyna - Demisexual (This is like the perfect explanation as to why her and Jason never really worked out imo, cause she thought she didn't find him attractive or whatever and didn't understand her sexuality)

Jason - BISEXUAL (idc what you say but he totally had a crush on Nico)

Everyone Else - No idea, bear with me here haha

This Fic is becoming my favourite thing to do in my free time, so believe me when I say that I will be keeping with it.

I guess that's it for this transition chapter. I'll probably do one for every act. As always, have a good day!


	17. Ares + Athena? What In The...

Percy POV

My day was going perfectly normal until Nico di Angelo arrived.

Maybe I should back up.

It was any other April morning for me. I had gotten up 10 minutes late, and neglected to shower or eat so I wouldn't miss the Subway. Tyson was scared to go in the tunnels alone.

Tyson. Right. I'll explain him in a moment.

So I, for 7th grade, have been going to Merriweather College Prep, which is a progressive school. Due to this, the teachers are always wearing casual clothing, having us all sit on bean bag chairs, and being so upbeat that I wanted to throw myself off a cliff. The kids actually made me want to throw myself off a cliff, for very different reasons.

One, they bullied me everyday. It wasn't that I gave a crap about that, but they bullied me because of Tyson. Tyson was this Community project, and he was homeless. Tyson was big and strong, I'd say about 7 feet tall, had a face so ugly I couldn't bear to look above his nose, and a total softie. Of course, as soon as the kids figured that out he was shunned by everyone except for me. In turn, I was shunned.

Two, they managed to get good grades despite their behaviour, while I had to fumble with my constant pen clicking (Not Riptide, although it'd be interesting to do someday), inability to read, and constant fear of being attacked by some rabid chihuahua (It's happened before).

So yeah. My day was going good as ever, and I hauled myself out of math class, with Tyson in tow. "I gotta go to the bathroom, Percy." I sighed internally, and followed him into the bathroom. Usually I kept guard for Tyson so there wouldn't be any incidents. But in the off chance, I had to go too.

I elected to just hide in one of the few stalls, for more privacy, so you could imagine my surprise when I heard a "Psst." from above just after I had done up my fly.

My head shot upwards to see none other than the Son of Hades himself. "What in-"

"Shh." He put his fingers to his lips. He pointed across the stall to where Tyson would be standing, in a 'get rid of him' manner. I walked out of the stall, now noticing that there was a broken light in the corner, where Nico stood. I asked Tyson to meet me in our next class, saying I'd catch up with him in a second. He eventually agreed and made his way out.

"Camps in trouble."

I quickly turned to the boy emerging from the shadows. He was wearing the trademark orange tee with black camo pants. His hair had grown out, as had he; the quite a few inches I'd had on him last year was now only a couple inches of height. The guy would probably be tall growing up. "What's wrong? And why couldn't you have told me this at home?" I asked, irritated. One year, is that so hard?

Nico hesitated. "Someone poisoned Thalia's tree." My eyes widened, not at the news itself, but the implications of it. That tree was what kept Camp safe, if it were to be poisoned... Who would do that?

"I never spoke my suspicions out loud, especially in front of Ann, but Luke seems the most plausible, don't you think?" He replied to my internal monologue (I swear, that kid could read my mind). "Oh, and to your second question-"

"My mom would never let me leave before finishing the school year."

Nico clapped his hands together. "You got it."

I bit my lip, "How long until the tree dies?"

"At this rate I'd say-" he scrunched his eyebrows, "-I think a few months, according to Katie. Oh, I have a question too." I shrugged my shoulders, "When did you meet that cyclops?"

I nearly choked. "Cyclops? Wha- no, Tyson, h- h- he..."

Nico cocked an eyebrow, "You couldn't tell." He concluded. "Why do you think he trusts your judgement on every decision? He's a monster son of Poseidon." I went to interrupt, but he forged on, "That is not important right now. Tantalus, he's been keeping an eye on me and my sister; he knows we can shadow travel, and I don't think he want us warning the demigods at home-"

"Stop." I put my hands up. "Cyclops? Really?" I asked weakly, and he nodded. "Okay, okay, er... Who's Tantalus?"

He put his arm out. "You'll see." I knew he wanted me to shadow travel with him; it was something Bianca had done on our quest last year with Annabeth. When I had left, Nico had only barely been able to manipulate the shadows, but I assumed he had improved.

I bit my lip in thought. There were no cameras in the bathroom, so it would look as if I had vanished into thin air. My mom would be frantic, but she also knew of the life I lived. And I should be defending camp if it's that bad there. So I linked my arm through Nico's, ignoring how awkward it felt standing this close to him, and followed him into the shadows.

I had never shadow travelled before, and I could only describe it as a void; no air, ice cold, wrapping around me. No wonder Nico was so pale all the time. We emerged just outside of Camp borders. The camp looked nearly the same as it had when I had left, except for the loosely placed line of people on the hill. Thankfully we were out of their view.

"Border Patrol," Nico whispered to me, "Annabeth was able to convince Dionysus and Tantalus to add it 24/7."

I asked, confused, "What about Chiron?"

"You'll see. Now I'm going to travel to my room in The Big House, where I've been having a nap on my free hour. You are gonna strut up there, confidently, and say you had a dream that bad things were happening at camp so you decided to come see what was wrong. Got it?" I nodded. "Good luck." he vanished into the darkness.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I whispered into the air. I stood from my spot and began my trek up the hill. Eventually one of the patrols spotted me.

"Percy?" I heard voice.

"Of late, that's my name, yes!" He instructed a son of Dionysus to alert the head of camp of my arrival, and they ran off.

He looked at me in confusion, "It's the middle of a school day, why are you here?"

I debated telling him the truth when I remembered that, y'know, Greek mythology existed. And with my luck someone and/or something would be listening. "I had a demigod dream. Something about the camp being in trouble. Seeing as there's border patrol now..."

He sighed, and responded, "There's a lot happening right now. The pine tree, it was poisoned, hence border patrol," I nodded along, though I already knew this, "And the gods seem to think that..."

"What?" I asked, fearing the tone in his voice.

"...That Chiron may have done it." Beckendorf shook his head rapidly as he spoke, "But they're only saying that because his father is Kr- The King of Titans." I guess I could see why the gods might think like that. After all, our entire quest last year was based on assumptions we had about certain immortals. I still wasn't happy about it, but I grit my teeth and kept listening. "And then, of course, there's some prejudice between the Ares kids and the Di Angelos." I frowned, wondering why Nico hadn't mentioned it. "It seems silly, but in practice, it feels like you have to pick a side constantly. Even capturing the flag is now led by those two, with the Athena kids, if you can believe it, on Ares' side."

We finally hit the Big House. "Good luck with Tantalus, he's here from the fields of punishment to fix his curse, so the gods are letting him be Activities Director." Beckendorf walked back to his border patrol shift, and I turned to the door. Good luck, me.


	18. Organised Chaos, That's Me!

Annabeth POV

I sat on a bench in the arena. I was alone except for a child of Apollo, who was practising with a javelin in melee; she was exceptional with her aim, thanks to her father, but I believe she wanted to have an option in close quarters combat as well. My elbows rested on my knees, and my palms were both rested over my mouth., fingertips held together overtop the bridge of my nose. I watched the girl try to hit a perfect strike over where the tip would hit the heart but I could tell, if it were real combat, the javelin would not be moving fast enough to pierce the heart. Regardless, the straw dummy stood no chance, and it went straight through the heart. I related to the dummy.

I had felt a stabbing pain in my heart since that day, 2 weeks ago.

The day we found out Luke had poisoned Thalia.

I closed my eyes, no tears spilling out. I didn't do that with other people around. Instead, I sat, listening to the sound of a javelin being thrown at a dummy, in frustration, I assumed. I had no doubt it was a perfect strike, though my eyes were still closed. I heard someone walk in by the crunch of the pathway turning to the quiet sound of someone walking towards me on the arena sand.

"Percy's here." I sighed in relief, opening my eyes. I knew the siblings had planned to fetch Percy and Piper, respectively.

"Why?" I had to play along, so I made my voice sound more worried than it normally would be (not that my voice hasn't been constantly worried lately).

Beckendorf shrugged. "He said something about dreams. Makes sense, considering his father..."That was good. The story wasn't too basic that everyone would think he came here on his own terms, but not too vague that he could mess up the lie. "He's in with Tantalus at the moment."

I winced. "I'll meet him after that shitshow." He laughed, and held out his hand to get me from my spot. I took it, a small smile coating my face. He was much larger than any other 15 year old you'll ever meet in the mortal world by any means, including his calloused hands. He was a blacksmith like most of his siblings; he had been sharpening my dagger for a couple years now. He was the only one I trusted not to mess it up.

He headed off to the border, as I made my way towards The Big House. Glancing to Beckendorf's destination, I sighed. Bianca should have been here by now with Piper, seeing as her Umbrakinisis was currently more powerful than her brothers. She had been more tired these days, and woke screaming Luke's name more than once in the middle of the night.

That was all observed, as Nico still held a grudge against me for rejecting his sister, in a sense. We were on talking terms, but everytime we did such a thing it would feel like we were walking on a tightrope over lava, trying to avoid triggering topics. We didn't talk often. I only knew she was having nightmares after I had been walking in the middle of the night, plagued by my own dreams, by The Big House. I hadn't talked to her about it, even though it was the right thing to do. I didn't want to admit it.

We were having nightmares about the same thing. The same day. The same event. The same person.

We both saw Bianca di Angelo as the bad guy. We both knew who it really was but we couldn't tell ourselves-

Shut up.

I looked to see Percy coming out from the Big House, and I ran over. "Annabeth!" He waved, and I gave him a hug. "How ar-" he seemed to pause, realising how stupid the question was. Thalia had been poisoned; I was not good. "How's camp? The campers?"

I said, "It's doing alright. We haven't been getting too many new campers of late, but that happens every decade or so." That was a blatant lie. In fact, there had been some rumour of people going to join Luke, because what we did to him was horrendous. We shut those ideas down quickly, before they spread too thick.

Percy seemed to notice the lack of Hades' children around. "Where is- are the siblings?"

"Nico is having a nap I believe, and Bianca should be in California right about now."

"Wha-? California, why?" He asked, flabbergasted

I scoffed, "She's going on a cruise to Hawaii." Percy looked confused, seeing as I had no sarcastic tone, "She's getting Piper, Seaweed Brain."

"That makes much more sense. And-"

I internally rolled my eyes, "We have talked, but not about... You know." He nodded solemnly.

We exchanged newsworthy info as we walked to Cabin 3. I paused in front of it, wondering if I should go in and risk getting tornadoed or something by Poseidon. "Come inside. It's alright." He said from the doorway.

I walked inside to see that the cabin was quite messy, courtesy of Percy's quick exit last year. "Oh, yeah, this is all my fault, sorry." He said, laughing nervously.

I waved it off, "I'm fine with it." I'd never admit it but my desk was just as chaotic yet organised all the time. I just knew where everything was. There's a difference.

"So..." He said as if he was scared of the query after a minute or so, "Never thought that the war god and the wisdom goddess cabin would be working together?" It could have been a statement, but he asked it with a question at the end.

Tantalus must have mentioned it, "Well, my er, brothers and sisters, they..."

"You wanted to get at the di Angelos."

I winced, "Well, at first yeah. But they always win." I hated it. I never used to lose games, but no one wanted to make the decision to work with the di Angelos.

He choked on the water he was drinking, which I didn't even know was possible for a Son of Poseidon. "How? They'd be outmatched, even with everyone else on their side."

"Our parents don't get along, neither do we." I said with a finality in my tone. "I should get going, I'll see you around." He nodded, and walked out.

I looked around, secretly hoping for some commotion revolving the Daughter of Hades and the Daughter of Aphrodite taking place, but they were nowhere to be found.


	19. Do You Like Percabeth?

Bianca POV

I woke to my head throbbing violently. "Ugh..." I put my palm to my forehead. I shifted in my spot on... Where am I? I (Being more alert now) cracked an eye open to see what I assumed was a bedroom, but it was no normal one. It looked huge, and most of the built in parts were fancy and rich. But that's where the pattern ended.

The room was quite minimalized, filled with various, albeit blurry, decorations. It wasn't flaunted, like how Annabeth would put her A+ tests on the walls, or how Nico had his Mythomagic statues placed on his bedside. It was just stuff that had been put to make floor space. Little things that probably had lots of sentimental value, rather than materialistic.

Piper's room.

I heard someone rushing through a door to my right, so I turned to find the one and only Piper Mclean holding a container of ambrosia and a thermos of nectar (We had given this to her just before her departure in September). She was wearing a camp tee-shirt, overlapped with a black leather jacket and her now longer brunette hair. The sweats she wore were almost black with a tinge of purple.

"You should know, you brothers and sisters would have a heart attack if they knew you were related to them and were wearing that." I put sarcastic emphasis on the end.

She turned quickly to my voice. "You're awake! Thank the gods."

I cocked an eyebrow, "Why are you thanking them? They're probably the reason I'm like this in the first place-" A thunder commenced outside, "-Kidding, kidding."

She saw me looking out the window for the sun, "It's about noon."

"NOON?" I shot up out of the bed, quickly took the ambrosia to please the other girl in the room, and started to leave with Piper on my tail. "Tantalus is gonna find out I was gone, Nico's gonna get in trouble-"

Piper grabbed my shoulder, turning me. "I have my things ready. Just give yourself a minute, Nico can last that long." I reluctantly took a seat on her bed again.

I looked around her room, where there was a bookshelf filled with what I assumed were history books. "Are you into history?" I called to her, where she stood in her large closet, gathering her bag.

She stopped in her movements. "My father is. I got it from him, I guess. Why?" she asked tentatively.

"Well... Nevermind." I wanted to ask about what I had missed in the last 70 years. The war. She poked her head out questioningly.

I had spoken with Annabeth, quite recently actually (We had only just gotten on speaking terms). There had been a tense conversation about the war. It had been a brief discussion. If he was my brother... It was no wonder everyone expected me to kill them in their sleep. I shuddered involuntarily.

"I would have been put in the hotel in 1939." I gazed out the window.

Piper stepped out of the closet, bag in hand. "Then you were lucky. You missed most of-"

"The war." I finished. I took a breath, "Did you know that most events in mortal history mirror events on the Greeks side?" She shook her head slowly, "Yeah well... World War Two was a fight between the children of Zeus and Poseidon versus my siblings." I shook my head and looked to the floor. "Guess which side they were on?"

Piper paused for a moment, then looked at me in pity. "You aren't like them." She knelt in front of me, her bags forgotten, and lifted my head to match her gaze. "You never will be."

I vaguely registered a tear threatening to escape, but it never fell. "He was my brother. Him." She didn't need to ask to know who I was talking about.

She hugged me, and we just kind of sat there for a moment. I probably needed it. "We should get going." I said finally, pulling away. She nodded, and we both gathered her things, before I closed her blinds, preparing to leave. Unlike Percy, We had IM'd Piper to let her know we were coming and why. I stood, linked my arms with Pipers, and focused on the shadows.

"Eek!" Conner screeched from behind us. "You need to stop doing that, my gods."

I turned and sent a glare at him. Chiron trotted over with Tantalus and Dionysus in tow. "Why is there another half-blood here?" Tantalus asked angrily.

"Oh, well I went retrieve Piper, since we're going to need all the support we can get now that the camp borders are weakened. Wouldn't you want the camp to be safe?" I could tell Chiron secretly knew that we had planned this from the start, but the other two bought it.

We went over to Cabin 11, with Pipers bag shrugged over her shoulder. "How's Annabeth?"

I raised my eyebrows. It was a bold question, considering how we had been acting when she left. "Our relationship... is questionable at best. We don't talk much anymore. I get most of my info from Nico."

"Info?" Piper said, smirking.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you be getting any ideas. I know she still has nightmares." That was probably why our friendship was rocky at best.

Piper pursed her lips, considering something, at least that's what it looked like. "Percy has a crush on her."

I sputtered, "Why does that matter?"

She shrugged. "Nothing, really. Do you think they would go well together? As a couple?"

I thought about it. It wasn't like I hadn't thought of it, it was just that whenever I did, there would be some part of me that would say no! Which was stupid. I mean, they were perfect for each other in a sense. They were opposites. But I still found the idea of them kissing and such really disturbing for whatever reason. Not like I should judge, I argued to myself, it's not like it affects me.

"Yeah, sure. Great couple." We were already at the cabin. I must have been lost in my own world for a while.

Piper smirked as if I had confirmed something for her. "Alright. Well I'll just put my bag down here-" she threw her bag at a various corner, "-and pray the Stolls keep their oath to not pickpocket. Now, we should get going. Don't wanna keep Percabeth waiting." She winked, and walked out, leaving me standing in the cabin, wondering what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. Bianca being able to use Umbrakinisis to get from coast to coast seems pretty OP for only the second act. But the way I see it she's not only favoured by her father, and would probably have more shadow power there, but is also nearing the same age as Nico was in BoO. ALSO (Something to look forward to), Piper will be the POV of next chapter! Have a good day!


	20. Not Really A Makeover Person

Piper POV

I leaned my shoulder against a pillar, one part of the amphitheater. Silena sat, oblivious to my presence, playing with something on her neck. Most wouldn't notice that she wore it.

But I knew.

I couldn't blame her. It's not like my mother has claimed me yet. If Annabeth hadn't told me that she was Aphrodite, well I'd have half a mind to go join Luke myself. I knew lots of kids in the Hermes cabin felt the same. There were lots of undetermined demigods there.

Chris was a nice guy. He was unclaimed. He was gone.

I walked from my spot, and sat silently beside Silena. She shoved the necklace down her shirt in alarm. "Piper, I- I didn't know there were charmspeak less-"

"I know."

She looked up at me. "What then?"

"How do you think we found out about Luke in the first place last summer?" She looked at me, scared, "I followed you."

She hesitated, her eyes reflecting how terrified she must be in that moment. "He said there would be less carnage. There's a war coming Piper. You know that."

I nodded. "And when the gods lose? What then? You get a happy ending?" I pressed.

She shook her head, "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"People are going to get killed. I don't like it, but it's true. It doesn't matter what side you are on, Silena." She flinched.

"What do you want from me? I have no choice. What could I possibly-"

"Choose where your loyalties lie. Because if it's with them-" I waved my hand in the direction of Half-Blood Hill, "-You should get packing."

We sat in silence for a moment. Maybe a minute, maybe ten minutes later, she whispered, "I want to help you." I nodded. Even though she hadn't said she necessarily was on the gods side, it was not like any of us were. She was with me, which was slightly different, but the goal of me coming here had been met.

I could live with that.

In retrospect, me spending the next few hours with Annabeth, reading, was very out of character compared to most of my siblings. They would likely say something like 'ew! You should do something better than reading, like do a major makeover and find yourself a boyfriend or whatever!'. Believe it or not, I liked the way I looked and even liked my own interests. I liked mythology. Sue me.

Unfortunately, it was hard to like mythology when it threatens to attack you, slash you, sting you or poison you. That last bit was actually the reason we were here.

Annabeth stood across from me, and angrily slammed a book down on her desk, which caused me to flinch. "Nothing!" She said bitterly. "There is no viable cure for that poison. Luke knew it too."

I wanted to get her hopes up, but I really had no idea how I was gonna do that. "What about non-viable solutions?"

She glared at me, then sighed. "I mean... There is The Golden Fleece." she said quietly.

I furrowed my eyebrows. I've heard of it. "You wanna expand on that idea?"

She sighed, looking through her notes until she pulled out a page. "There were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa. They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, so they prayed to Zeus to save them. Zeus ended up sending this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor."

"Well, 50%" I added nonchalantly. "Europa leapt off while yelling 'Geronimo!' or something, right?"

She shrugged. "I could see it. Anyway, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land; Animals stopped getting sick, plants grew better, farmers had bumper crops, plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalise any land where it's placed. It strengthens nature, cleans up pollution, and, well, it cures poison."

I glanced at her notes, puzzled. "The catch?"

"No one knows where it is. It's been missing for centuries." I sighed. Another dead end. Annabeth glared at the notes before shoving them off the table with her arms and sitting down on her bed.

I knelt and began picking up the papers on the floor, which was the exact moment Bianca walked in. "Have you seen Nico lately?" She asked in distress.

I thought for a moment. The Son of Hades was someone who was an introvert at heart, at least I believed so, it was one of the things he and his sister had in common. Despite this, he always managed to befriend people at the table where I sat last summer, bonding over his ability to set a prank, then 'teleport' away. It was probably the reason we were on his side for Capture the Flag (the siblings had respectively sat away from everyone else, and had basically become their own cabin). Percy had similar qualities, if he had retained his personality from last year. Now that Bianca mentioned it, however, the morning had been distinctly quiet.

"Not that I can think of." Annabeth said, and I threw in that I hadn't seen Percy much either. "Can't you, I don't know, er- Soul Scan?"

"Soul Scan?" Bianca asked, offended.

Annabeth waved her off, "Whatever. Just do it."

Bianca closed her eyes, and took a long breath out. After about 30 seconds, she came out of her trance. "Nothing."

I stood and began picking up my leather jacket. "Well, we go find them." No one argued, though they both looked similarly distressed. We quickly moved to the outside and vanished into the forest, praying Tantalus or Dionysus didn't discover our presence (We had faith in Chiron).

I studied the two girls in front of me. If what I had gathered was true, this was probably the first time they were doing anything together this year. It was funny, really. They had so many differences on the surface, but they both were that same person, internally. They both cared for everyone they were close too, and were both smart enough to be the 'leader' of our trio. Then again, that is also the exact reason they were against the idea of being friends.

Friends. Bianca, whether she realised it or not, had a crush on Annabeth. I had placed it as possessiveness at first, but I had no doubt she was harbouring a liking for the girl walking to her left. I felt bad for having a slight ulterior motive for mentioning Percabeth, but not enough to regret anything.

She was also from the 1930's. Liking girls then, Hades, even now, would be seen as bad. Disgusting. At least nowadays there were laws against voicing that kind of stuff, but back then? You would be killed, according to what I'd read. So I decided not to press her. I wasn't going to increase any internal homophobia she might already have.

"Here." Bianca said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I'll see if I can do what I did with you, Piper, and try to shadow travel to their souls."

We all agreed, and I took Annabeth's arm and Bianca's other. I knew they wouldn't have any appeal towards linking arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah ha! The planning begins. Bianca totally had a crush on Annie from the start haha, I felt like if would be something Piper would be invested in. Maybe that how she realises her gayness haha. Have a good day!


	21. Me! Me! Choose Me!

Percy POV

"Hey..." I said tentatively to Nico. He was sitting on his bed shuffling Mythomagic cards, which he quickly shoved under his pillow as I walked in, still sporting a mess of black bed hair.

"Percy?" He said with a faux British accent now, "What brings you here on this magnificent morning?"

I laughed. "Magnificent? Is this how you act every day, or did you see me and think 'Oh our savoir Percy has arrived to magnificently make the day better'?"

He stood, grabbing a comb from his old Lotus bag. He said he wanted to keep it as a keepsake, and Bianca had no real reason against it, so he used it as a really short nightstand, I suppose. "I'm not feeding your ego right now Percy." He said chuckling as he combed his hair down.

I frowned. I liked it messy. "I need to talk to Tyson." I said, and Nico stilled his movements. He looked at me to explain. "And I should do it in person. And I know that's stupid of me to ask and I know what the answer in gonna be but-"

"Sure."

I looked at him as if he had grown a third eye, "Wait, really?"

Nico shrugged. "Why not? Maybe we could get some ideas on how to cure Thalia's tree, because we both know Annabeth's search in the library is useless."

I smiled. We began gathering our things and getting prepared to go. "Do you have a safe place we could travel to?"

That was one thing I hated myself for. I wanted to see my mom, and of course we could use our apartment as a safe place, but I knew if she saw me that she would immediately demand me to return home until summer.

"The underground subway station nearby. It'll be filled to the brim with life so it shouldn't be hard to find." He nodded and focused. I knew he would be capable of traveling a ways away, even if his sister's talents outmatched him recently.

We linked arms, and the all too familiar feeling of voided darkness enveloped me again. We appeared in a particularly dark part of the underground. "I will never get used to that." I said, taking deep breaths.

"Well?" Nico said, "Lead the way."

We made our way out and I began moving towards the school, though I kept my blue hood of my sweater up, while Nico just stayed in the dark. After about 10 minutes of this, we rounded the corner where Merriweather stood. I silently nodded Nico over to my direction, and he came over, myself pointing to a particular part of the school near the wall. The Son of Hades nodded, and quickly took my hand to travel again.

We ended up in a janitor's closet, where I heard the bell for the first period to be let out ring. It seemed big enough to fit three. I put a finger to my lips, signalling Nico to stay hidden; he melted nearly perfectly into the wall, at least that is how it looked.

I waited for the tell-tale sign that a huge boy- no, cyclops, was departing the classroom.

THUNK!

There he was, banging his head, again, on the top of the door-frame. I saw Nico wince in the corner.

I placed my hand on the door handle, where I turned it so it was open. After a moment, I reached my hand out, grabbing the front of Tyson's shirt. I dragged him inside the closet.

"Percy!" He ran up to me and gave me a hug, a.k.a crushed my ribs. Thankfully, he let go after making eye contact with the other boy in the closet. The cyclops edged away. "He smells..."

I shook my head, "He won't hurt you. I promise, as a son of Poseidon." I knew that would be the line that got him.

He looked at me in wonder. "P-Poseidon? Is your father?" I nodded, and he gave me another hug and twirled me around.

I saw out of the corner of my eye Nico snickering, so when I was grounded I elbowed him. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and I was painfully aware in that moment of how, due to the space Tyson took up, I was pressed shoulder to shoulder with Nico.

"Where have you been?"

I knew I would have to bring him to camp now. My willpower was non-existent. I explained how I was at this safe place for half bloods, and why I had to leave. I kept it simplified; I knew he wasn't very 'fast' up there in his head. But he deserved an explanation as to where I had been gone the last few days.

Nico looked at his Lotus wristwatch. "We should get back soon before someone notices." Namely, Bianca.

"Hey, Tyson?" He looked at me with his- Woah.

I mean, I knew he was a cyclops. That was partially why we were here, but it was this moment where I saw the one eye where two would normally be. It was blurry, but I figured the mist was at work.

It also hit me- like right then and there (I could vaguely tell that I was explaining to Tyson that we had to go, but it was background noise, really) That cyclops were monsters. (I linked arms with Nico) But their father was usually the same. The only reason I knew this, (The shadows took me) was because they were usually the child of one god in particular. The reason they would be able to breath underwater. They were children of-

"What in Hades are you doing, Percy?" I heard a girl's voice scream. I heard Nico whimper, and to be honest, I did too.

"Oh hey Annabeth... er," Nico started, "We were just walking our fish, y'know?" I glared angrily at him. How dare he even think to bring a fish out of water in such a forceful way? Disgraceful. "I- I mean-"

Bianca pushed past him and hugged him. "We thought something bad had happened." she scolded. "Where are we anyways?"

"This is my school. I was talking to someone, telling him to let my mom know I'm fine." It was mostly true.

Piper sighed, "We need to all get back." Everyone agreed, and we all joined arms again. More shadows. Why do I do this to myself?

Bianca clapped her hand dramitly, which could be heard for miles in these silent woods. "What is the plan now?"

Annabeth scoffed (first time I've seen them talk to each other since I got here), "And what makes you think we just have a plan coming out of our ass?"

"You looked-" Bianca waved her hands around in almost a Jazz hands fashion, "-Inspired when I came in. At least more than you usually do."

I was about to question why Bianca knew what Annabeth acted like most of the time, but Piper went, "The Golden Fleece. Unfortunately, we have no idea where to start or how long it's gonna take."

I shrugged, "Not that that's ever stopped us before."

Everyone chucked a bit at the memories of our first rodeo. We discussed a bit, everyone talking to everyone. I saw Nico pull Bianca aside in what looked to be an argument. They came to an impasse when we arrived back at camp.

"Chiron." Annabeth said, grabbing his attention.

He stood over us. "What is it, children?"

We all looked at each other. Who would take the quest? I went to walk forward, but before I could Nico put a hopeful look towards his sister, and she spoke.

"We need a quest."

Chiron stared at her, then at me, probably because I was glaring a hole into Bianca's head. "And what would you need a quest for, child?"

Piper said, "We have a way to fix the borders. The Golden Fleece."

He protested, we protested, back and forth, again and again, over and over. I didn't care. I was going either way.

You'll have to take this up with Dionysus, he said. That was ten minutes ago. I'm going on this quest. I will protect the camp. I will-

"As the-" Tantalus scoffed, "-leader of this impossible task, you must choose two companions." Bianca chose me. No... Bianca choose me. Please.

I was going either way.

She pursed her lips, glancing at Nico, who looked like he was puppy-dogging with his eyes.

It was cute. Not that it mattered.

"I'll bring Ann." I nodded. We needed someone smart, someone with mythological knowledge. Then she said me. "With Piper."

Wait.

She didn't say me. "What?"

"Two children of The Big Three would attract attention, Percy. You know that." I did. I didn't care, though. "Those are my choices, sir."

Those are her choices, sir.

I was going.

But those are her choices, sir.

I'm going.


	22. Bats And Owls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Adds a new relationship tag* Hehehehe

Annabeth POV

Percy walked angrily towards his cabin, obviously sulking. It was stupid, if you asked me. It made sense that he be left behind. He and Bianca were the two most powerful demigods we know of, and if one of them died, the other one would be there to take the place. In that scenario, they should be kept apart. Then again, only I knew the true reason this was a good idea.

Should I tell Percy?

He seemed almost... self centred. I mean, the guy was loyal, but he wasn't hounorable. That was dangerous. If he found out he and Bianca were qualified for imminent death, he would probably stop regarding his own life altogether. That wasn't good if he could be deciding the fate of our entire society.

As for Bianca, I didn't know (Feels like I've been saying that a lot, lately).

She was a rouge. As a Daughter of Hades, she would always be a rouge. She understood justice, and knew when she had crossed the line. Like last year. I didn't know her fatal flaw. I could say it was loyalty, but she would have talked to me after the incident, if that were the case.

She did try to, I argued.

When I had seen the face of the girl who had just stabbed Luke, the girl who looked like some kind of sociopath waking me up in my cabin... I reacted how anyone else would. It wasn't her fault I had nightmares, I understood that now. For a short time, I blamed her for hurting Luke. But Luke had done what he had, he had broken my trust.

How did I explain that to Bianca?

I stood in my cabin, collecting my things. We had decided to keep the quest quiet, try to minimize panic. And, we didn't know about Silena. Best to keep your enemies close.

Yankees cap? Check.

Change of clothes? Check.

Drachmas? Check.

We didn't know how long we could be gone. If Katie's estimation was correct, probably about 3 months, hopefully.

I discreetly moved to the woods, to our allocated spot for departure. Bianca was already there. She was leaning her back against a rock face, flipping her dagger in hand. It was one thing we had discovered a couple months into winter, that her sword had a 'dagger mode', she just had to trace the fuller up the blade with her finger, and it would shorten to a more manageable size. Nico's didn't have the same function, so we kept the fact hidden from him.

She glanced up at me, traced my figure with her eyes quickly, and looked back at her dagger. "Any plans for the quest?" I knew I had started a ticking time bomb, by speaking to her alone, but it was an important question.

She looked off to the side, playing with the string of her grey pullover. "Rhode Island." I looked at her oddly, and she pulled up a small smile. "It's the most 'nature' filled state. And for no leads, it seems like a good place to start." I had no reply, because that was actually... Smart. So I nodded. I took a spot, leaning against a cut off stump (That year was a real tragedy for the blue team. Flowers everywhere). "Sleep. It's fine."

Bianca must have noticed how I had bags under my eyes, but she also bore a look I couldn't place. Sadness? Regret? Pity?

No. Guilt.

I knew why she looked at me like that every day. I hated it. I had just done what anyone else would do. It wasn't my fault.

But it wasn't hers either.

"Sorry I'm late." Piper jogged up to us. "I was just doing some ground control."

Bianca cocked an eyebrow. "Ground control?"

Piper leaned a hand on a tree, crossing her legs and putting her weight on the hand. "Silena."

I nodded. Bianca explained her plan to head to Rhode Island, and we set off out the border. Bianca grabbed my hand, then Piper's and quickly traveled again. I stopped Piper from waltzing into a wall, then glared at the girl who was playing with her sword again. "A little warning next time?"

She shrugged. "You thought we were gonna walk there?" I rolled my eyes.

I looked around the alley we were in. "Any place to start?"

Piper walked outside our little alley, and paused, reading over a man's shoulder. She gestured for us to follow her, then walked up to the man. She asked him if she could have his newspaper, and he handed it over quickly.

"Check this out." Piper showed us a picture of a blurry boy, maybe 12, 13. He wore a green shirt and- "A red cap." she said, pointing to it.

Bianca looked intrigued, even slightly amused. "Grover? Boy breaks into Zoo, alleged animal trafficker?"

"If anyone would know about some magical nature rug, it would be him." I agreed. It would be good to see him after all these months.

We began walking toward the address of the zoo (I constantly cross checked the road we were on to figure out where we were). After, maybe, an hour and a half, we finally crossed the road to the Zoo. Bianca shadowed us in.

We slipped around the place, generally sticking to the nocturnal section (They seemed to like Bianca mostly, and the owls who didn't were okay as long as I was near her. Piper found this fact hilarious, and got tripped by a random bone in the path as I snickered in the background). After a few hours of this, we eventually found our target; a boy in the elk exhibit.

Eventually we got his attention, and he looked at us in pure shock, before coming over to us. "How are you here? Why are you here? Wha-"

Piper shushed him. "We are on another quest." I said.

He looked at us disbelievingly. "For what?"

We dragged him back to the Nocturnal section,and explained what he had missed in the last few months. He had been here for a similar reason as us, because it was nature filled. We asked what he might know about The Golden Fleece, and he shook his head. "I wish I could help you guys, especially considering..." he trailed off hopelessly. "But that thing is off the grid. I'm headed to Florida next, I'll keep an eye out for something that doesn't exist anywhere anyone's survived before."

Bianca sighed, "There must be somewhere that qualifies for that that we would know about. Then we could sail into oblivion." she said sarcastically.

"You act like we are going to the Bermuda Triangle or whatever. We'll figure something out." Piper said, chuckling.

I would have laughed with her, but what she had said had set off my memory. "Why Florida?"

He shrugged, "There's rumored to be some huge nature scent over there." Why? The exact reason we had come to Rhode Island was because of that, so why did Florida qualify?

"Would a lot of Satyrs go there?"

"I assume so."

Bianca squinted at me, "You have your planning face. What is it?"

I decided not to question the 'planning face' comment. "What if a monster got hold of the fleece? Then hid in the Sea of Monsters? Then Satyrs would follow the scent to their doom, which would be why none have ever come back? It fits!" I said, my sureness of my idea growing as I spoke.

Bianca put a hand up, "Back up. Sea of Monsters?"

"Yeah," I said, "It's like this part of the ocean that all the hero's went through back in Greece. Filled with baddies. Hades, it even attacks mortals."

Piper looked at me incredulously. "Mortals? But wouldn't they figure out something was wrong with it?"

I smirked. "You just said it, yet you question what it is." I laughed, and she looked at me oddly, "It's Devils Sea. Also known as-"

"The Bermuda Triangle."


	23. Tristan Is A Horrible Teacher

Bianca POV

I sat in a hidden away part of the Zoo, where Grover had apparently been hiding out (The Zebra's were okay with it, apparently they knew him and Ann from Vegas, which was odd seeing as we had met in Vegas. How much could we have possibly missed before they found us?). Everyone was asleep, after much nagging, as everyone wanted to take watch. I had to have been about two hours later when Annabeth's eyes shot open, and she looked around, I assume she was identifying her surroundings. "Hey, hey, your fine." I said, approaching her slightly, but still keeping about six feet between us (Social Distancing, fu3kers).

She glanced at me, then at the other, more peaceful, sleepers. Then, to my suprise, she slowly stood, picked her bag/pillow up, and tiptoed over to me. She silently looked up at the moon. "It's way past the pole," we had agreed to switch the watch at that time, "why are you up?"

I lowered my gaze to the floor. "There was no point in waking you. I probably would have been up the whole night anyway."

She opened her bag, and pulled out one thing I never thought I'd see. "Is that a Hercules thermos?" I asked, trying to hold back my giggles.

"No. Well yes. But it's not mine. It's a gift."

I cocked an eyebrow. "From?"

"Hermes." She had to be kidding. "I'm serious." She's not kidding. My gods. She explained her dream.

Apparently, Hermes had popped in to give her a pep talk, along with a couple gifts. She got some vitamins, and I nearly woke up the others with my barley masked laughter (There were cerberus ones. Need I say more?).

"What are we gonna use these for, exactly?" I asked.

She said slyly, "You tell me. You have the Prophecy, after all." I did. And I had kept it from the others. Did I feel guilty?

A bit.

But it was for the greater good, right? I didn't want panic.

I pursed my lips, and looked around nervously.

"Nature's call from lands uncharted,

A past foes friend to be outsmarted.

Criminals mind left with no mend,

A destined enemy to become a friend.

Crushed hopes seen by all,

Return to overtake your fated fall."

Annabeth sat in silence for a moment. "That's... vague."

"Naturally. But the first line makes sense, I guess. Land's Uncharted-" I waved my hand aimlessly, "- is the Sea of Monsters. Any thoughts?"

"No." she fidgeted with her necklace.

Both our heads snapped up as a noise clanged outside, cutting off my thoughts. "What in Hades was that?"

We quickly woke the others up, and I was elected to sneak outside and see what was out there, due to my natural camouflage. Annabeth would follow close behind with her cap. I linked arms with an invisible force, and shadow traveled us to just outside the door. That's when we saw it.

At first, I actually thought it was a rogue rhinoceros, but that theory was quick to be squashed by the fact that it exceeded even an elephant's size. It was turned away from us, and as it turned back in the other direction, I got a good look at its head. Three horns jutted out of the heads center, and the face itself was shaped as almost a horse, except it was more 'scaley'

"That's a Odontotyrannos." Annabeth (I assume it was her, as we were still linked arms) whispered in my ear. I went back inside with her, and she explained what the heck was out there.

So Alexander The Great, y'know the one, was camped in India when this Odontotyrannos attacked them. It had killed 26 people, had no fear of fire, and was humongous. Now we had three and a half people (Grover had the goat thing going for him), one who had unresolved past trauma but is super smart, one who had barely any experience and was good at telling things what to do, and one who could control the shadows.

Safe to say we totally had this.

"We need to get out of here. Without fighting it." Piper was right. We would need the entire camp to off this guy.

Grover told us that he would stick around, find safety in some nearby nature spirits. We wished him luck, and I watched as he slipped into the distance.

We linked arms again. "Alright, I might pass out, so catch me." They nodded. I focused on getting to Florida (I had studied major locations of all states so I could go anywhere I needed in November). When we arrived, my knees buckled, and they actually caught me. I didn't pass out, believe it or not, but I was on the edge of my consciousness.

We camped out in- well, I don't remember- but some abandoned place, I think. I never slept, just had my eyes closed, because I knew if I slept I would dream, and if I dreamt, I would see him. Him, with his bloody leg, which was only hanging on by a thread. Him, who would watch me scream because I had watched him.

Him.

I pretended not to notice when Annabeth, slowly but surely, sat by my legs. Piper had gone, they had discussed while I was 'asleep' how she was gonna go shoplift some store. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I wasn't about to question it.

"You need sleep." It felt directed at me. However, it wasn't what I had expected to hear; I was waiting for 'Why are you awake?' or 'You should sleep.'.

I frowned, seeing as there was no point in pretending. "Why do you care?" I opened my eyes slightly.

Ann looked unsure, even to herself. "Well, you are our leader." she sighed, "And it's not like I'll judge you for what you think, right?" Putting it as a question was odd. You could almost see it in a whole new light, as in 'I won't judge you for your nightmares. You don't judge me either, right?'

I sat up, having given up on getting any rest, and positioned myself, leaning against the wall of the building, left leg laying flat, right leg bent with my arms resting on it. "Why do you care?"

She looked at me oddly.

"Why do you care?" I repeated.

She let out a shuddering breath, "I know you did the best you could do in the moment." We didn't ever talk like this. This was where the conversation stopped, where you fell off the tightrope. "And I know Luke was doing what he thought was right for me." I was doing what I thought was right for you. "But it's not your fault. I don't blame you."

"Why?" I scoffed, "I look in the mirror, and I see blood on me. Don't you?" That could be taken two ways. Both were valid.

She didn't flinch at my bitter tone as I had expected. "I can't change how I was raised. How Luke and Thalia raised me. They're both dead, both lost, one way or another."

I knew that. They weren't in the underworld, but they were both gone. They were her siblings, her family. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Nico lost me, seeing as I raised him. He would do anything for me. Annabeth would do anything for Luke. She would bring him back, at least, she would try.

"What happened, happened. We can't change that." I said. We would have to fight him anyway.

"We can move on from it, though."

A ceasefire. Call off the bullshit because it would always linger, and we just had to get used to it.

"Ok. Move on."

I put my hand out. "I'm Bianca di Angelo, Daughter of Hades. Are we friends?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess so, yeah." A small smile grew on her face.

Piper came back after a few minutes of peaceful silence. She carried a bunch of gas-stations like snacks (Don't ask how, she apparently will never tell), and we feasted for a moment before trying to finalise a plan.

It wasn't ideal that we were going to the ocean without Percy, but we hadn't known about the location until after we had left, so we just would have to live with it. The plan was simple.

1\. Travel to the docks

2\. Convince whoever was standing around to go somewhere else using charmspeak

3\. Hijack a speedboat

4\. Travel to-

"AHH!" I screamed as the boat nearly threw me off into the water, "This plan is not good! I repeat, NOT GOOD!"

Annabeth whacked me with her bag. "Calm down!" She yelled over the motor.

I quickly glared at her, then checked to see Piper, who was controlling the boat. Apparently she had learned from her father how to give Children of Hades a panic attack. Thanks, Tristan!

"Where are we going, exactly?" Our glorious captain asked.

Annabeth replied to Piper, "The Clashing Rocks. We should be able to outrun them."

"SHOULD?"

They both shushed me, although Annabeth looked just as green as I likely was. The coast guard who had been chasing us aborted as we entered the area of the Triangle. After what felt like days (But was probably about 90 minutes), we finally came across a channel of cliffs. Couldn't have come at a better time, seeing as I was split on puking into the ocean and pissing Poseidon off, or puking on Annabeth and pissing her off. Both were equally deadly.

We slowed the boat a bit, and waited for the cliffs to imminently crash together. After a few seconds, they bashed together quickly. The sound rang through my eardrums, and if I hadn't already had my ears plugged I probably would have blown them. A wave of water pushed us back, but at this point we were already moving forward.

Piper pushed the throttle, contracting the water and jetting off into the sunrise. We moved in between the cliffs, where the water was splashing at their edges, then at us, creating a ripple effect.

The air itself seemed to shake as we approached the end of the channel, and the cliffs rumbled around us. "Piper..."

"I'm working on it!" she shouted, as the cliffs crashed again.

The only reason we made it out was the force of the water moving out of the way. The boat's tip dipped below the waves, the end pointed to the roof, and we flipped into the sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer than normal, but there was a lot to cover. Biancabeth isn't just gonna happen, nope, there will be more rifts. Did you expect anything different? Have a good day!


	24. The Island Of Cute Girls (Just One But...)

Piper POV

Have you ever watched those movies where the main character's, I don't know, super yacht sinks, and they miraculously find a peaceful island where they get in touch with the animals and start questioning their existence?

Well, that, uh, kind of happened.

The boat flipped, and I was able to hold myself above the water for air. The same could not be said for my friends. Annabeth struggled far more than I did, but I was able to help her find a handhold soon after me. She somehow still had her bag hooked to her back.

Bianca was a whole other story.

Remember how Annabeth said that going on a boat as a child of Hades or Zeus was a big no-no? Case and point: the Daughter of Hades nearly drowned as the current seemed to naturally pull her down. We had to physically combine our efforts to pull her out.

Soon realizing that trying to flip the boat was a futile effort, we just searched for a safety raft. Eventually, we found one under the floor, (read: I found one. The other two had a much shakier relationship with the water).

We got it going, and next thing I knew we were drifting into the endless sea.

I eventually told them to get some more sleep, because they had spent the last hour swimming around, and Bianca obliged. Annabeth gave me the chance to sleep instead, arguing that I had done the most work underwater.

I slept for what could have been 10 minutes before Annabeth woke us, pointing out and island. However, this island wasn't just any other stranded tropic.

It looked to be a resort, almost, with people milling about. "We could check it out." Bianca said, and Annabeth nodded along, "I mean, there could be resources on it."

I argued, "there could be monsters too."

"Then that's a chance we'll have to take." Annabeth said.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to win this. I agreed on one condition- I would hide under the sopping remains of our outerwear (sweaters, jackets) so if things went wrong you had someone on the outside.

They looked at me like I was the weird one. It didn't matter to me. This place creeped me out.

I situated myself under the smelly clothes (the sacrifices you have to make for being a mom friend!) And watched as the two girls stumbled out onto solid ground. After a moment, a girl walked up to them quickly.

She carried a clipboard and pen, and wore a blue, fancy, uniform, much like the rest of the people on the island. Her hair was dark, and she was a Latina, so very cute (not that it mattered or anything). She looked to be about my age.

"New arrivals!" She said in a peppy tone, "Is this your first time at the spa?" The questers glanced at each other questioningly.

"First time at the spa, then." She scribbled on her clipboard, which gave me the chance to look around more. The docks seemed to be filled with odd vessels for just being a 'normal spa', such as anywhere from a pirate ship to deflated safety rafts (Which made me feel so much better about hiding in one).

Eventually the girl led them away, and so I decided to get some upfront presentation to this spa. I clambered out and hunched down behind a building. It seemed that some of the people that were working were all under some kind of... spell. I trailed far behind Bianca and Annabeth, until they went their separate ways. I decided to deal with Bianca's likely kidnapping first, seeing as she had the advantage of her Underworld powers.

I also didn't think she would be as susceptible to whatever was going on. As I stalked behind her, I noticed how she seemed far more shifty, which lined up with how my charmspeak was more effective on Annabeth than her.

I moved toward the building where she had entered with the same other girl; another handmaiden had taken Annabeth somewhere else.

Bianca stood inside (I had a spot by a window), where another woman stood. I could sense she was powerful, that there was some type of ancientness that surrounded her. However, Bianca seemed more lulled by her presence, which made me think it was more magic. The woman waved the Latina off, and she quickly scurried away.

But I was already there. I had snached Annabeth's dagger, which was good seeing as the other people had cautiously taken Bianca's, though they only touched the bag, not the sword. It gave me hope that we could retrieve it later. I grabbed the girl, put a knife to her neck, and shoved her against the wall behind some shrubbery.

She held a sort of fire in her obsidian eyes, but I didn't let it stop me. "What in Hades is this place?" She said nothing, so I decided to move to the next step, "They don't know I'm here. I could burn this entire place to the ground. Wouldn't you like to hear the screams of all the other girls? All your fault... Oh well." I would never, maybe Bianca could (She's a little... you know), but I wouldn't kill people who so far seemed innocent. But she didn't know that.

The idea of destroying everything and everyone seemed to chip her strong expression. "The others won't be hurt." she said quietly, "They aren't at risk."

She was speaking. That was good. "But why?" Whether it was purposely or accidentally, I think I put a bit of charmspeak in that.

She put her guard up more firmly. "It doesn't matter."

I sighed internally. "I don't want to hurt anyone." I said sincerely, "And I don't think you're evil or anything, I just need to get me and my friends out of here, and we'll never bother you again."

She snorted, "And where would you go?" that was a brilliant question.

"We would finish our business here, then be on our merry way back home."

She frowned. "Home?"

Shrugging, I said, "It doesn't matter." I grabbed her by the arm and kept the dagger at her neck. "Now, how do I get them out of here?"

She paused for a moment. "There's boats at the docks, I'm sure you saw them." I nodded, "Get them out of here on one of those."

I rolled my eyes, "Duh. But what about them being under some spell?"

She frowned even more. "If anyone could overcome the magic surrounding... her, it would be you."

"You mean..." I started putting the pieces together, "Charmspeak?" She nodded. It made sense, I guess, as to why Bianca might notice something was off before the other girl; she did spend 70 years in a magical hotel, which had similar features. "You stay with me-" I lowered the dagger slightly, keeping a tight grip on her shoulder, "-and when they're free, I'll let you go."

She went along with it, and kept up with me as I snuck back to the window. The Daughter of Hades's eyes darted nervously, as the sorceress lady walked in a slow circle around her. I tried to get her attention by waving violently through the window, and after a few minutes, she finally made eye contact.

She quickly diverted her attention back to the lady, pretending not to notice me. I had a plan, but it involved Bianca understanding what was going on. Since I didn't have time to make a powerpoint presentation, I mouthed one word, over and over, until Bianca subtley nodded.

Annabeth.

If I could distract the sorceress, it would allow Bianca to get away, hopefully to save Annabeth somehow. So, my brilliant mind thought of this.

I held the handmaiden against my front, put a knife to her neck, and kicked out the window with my combat boots. "You should've invited me, bitch!" The lady looked to me in shock, as Bianca took the opportunity to melt into darkness. I needed to hold the lady's attention so she didn't realize the girl was gone. "Do you mind giving me a tour, I'm sure this girl here would appreciate it?"

The woman adopted a sweet smile, "Child, do you really wish to threaten Reyna in such a way? I'm sure we can talk-"

I laughed far too maniacally for a 12 year old, "You really think I'm here to talk?" She seemed stunned I hadn't immediately given up due to her sorcery. "I'm a little more into blood and tears, y'know? It's such a nice aesthetic!"

That was when the alarms started blaring, but unless the lady had some telepathic warning thing (I wouldn't doubt it), that probably meant that my friends were out. "Guess that's my cue to exit. Thanks for the hospitality!" I dragged the girl (Reyna was her name?) along with me quickly. "Alright, now you're gonna tell me what the hell to use."

She resided, but I eventually got to the docks, where I was called out by another handmaiden. "Reyna! Whe-" The girl noticed me. I assumed she was a sister or cousin to Reyna, seeing as they looked similar. She stilled in her movements, as she made eye contact between me and the Latina.

She took a shaky breath. "I'll help you," the relative said with no hesitation, "but your friends have released the men." I didn't know what she meant, but I was smart enough to tell that the alarms and screams were warranted. "Your gonna get my sister out-"

"No way! Hylla I can't-" Reyna protested.

Hylla put a hand up, "You're getting out of here, to somewhere safe, alright." The girl looked up at me, and I understood the silent request.

"I swear upon the River Styx that I will protect Reyna until I find a sanctuary that will keep her safe."

Hylla seemed weirded out at the river part, but she saw the thunder and understood that it was important. She sent a look at Reyna, and nodded before she nodded back.

"What in my father-" Bianca ran out with Annabeth, who was holding the Daughter Of Hades up by wrapping her arm around her neck.

I put a hand up, signaling them not to panic, and let Hylla walk away. I eventually let go of Reyna, and lowered the dagger. "She's a friend for now!" I called out to the other girls, who nodded tiredly.

We all made our way around the docks, until we found what looked to be a large yacht, similar to the ones I'd been on due to my father. "This'll work." I said to them.

We jumped the gap from the dock to the boat, and I rushed to the top, muttering to myself. "Alright, this can't be that hard, just..." I went to push a button, but a hand grabbed mine, stopping me.

I turned to see Reyna behind me. "I've been parking boats for months. I can do it."

I backed away, and let her do... whatever in Hades she was doing. After a moment, the boat started moving forward. I ran outside to see the island in chaos, and I could've sworn I saw a pirate running around. Sorry, guys.

Looking back at the girl steering the yacht, I noticed she had tears running down her eyes. I would have said I'm sorry, but it would've felt fake. She turned and made eye contact, and glared between my two eyes, before lowering her gaze and turning to the front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been having a slight writers block around this point (This is being written when Organized Chaos, That's Me! was released) so updates might slow down a bit. Have a good day!


	25. Percico Begins (About Time)

Percy POV

Pacing.

It was calming to me. Pacing around the interior of Cabin 3. That was usually when I thought best. Despite my efforts to sit back down on my bed, everytime I did I would start rocking back and forth, so I stuck to walking. To Hades with a sleep schedule. It could be 10 pm or 3 am and I wouldn't care.

Go after them.

I pinched myself. Nio wouldn't want me to go. For whatever reason, he was the only reason I hadn't ran off like a chicken with no head (Was that the saying?). It was ironic, really, due to the sneaking suspicion that he was the reason Bianca hadn't brought me.

Damn her reasons. They were Minotaur crap. Two children of the big three would attract monsters, blah blah blah.

I had spent a while convincing myself it was for the best. Rumor spread quickly around the camp, and while everyone seemed mighty pissed off that we were putting the lives of the campers in the hand of a child of Hades, they seemed more pissed at the idea that a camper, namely Annabeth, got to go on a quest two years in a row.

As if that was a good thing.

I couldn't imagine the reaction if they found out I had gone. They would have thought I was purposefully taking all the glory.

Then there was Nico.

Poor guy. All the resentment that had built up over the months was gonna blow tonight. Capture the Flag. And I say tonight because I was fairly sure it was about 2 in the morning. I should sleep.

Pacing.

I forced myself onto my bed, even though my body urged me to stand, I layed down. After a moment, the constant walking for hours on end must have got to me, and I fell into the scariness that is sleep.

Why scary, you ask? Watch and learn.

I stood in a fancy room, wind blowing through the curtains of the window. The floor rocked ever-so slightly, and I realized with a start that I was on a boat. Quite a big one, if the room I was in was anything to judge from. A ship.

We were in Miami. I could tell just from the ship being on water, and decided not to question it.

I then noticed how the shadows seemed to move, swirling around some sort of box, sitting in the center of the room. I glowed softly, as the shadows seemed like they were being pulled in.

I heard a crack from beside me as something moved, and I snapped my head around. My body didn't move. I was unarmed, ready to accept that I was doomed. But it wasn't a monster.

It was a girl. Slightly shorter than me, but she seemed familiar. It felt like looking through a kaleidoscope, to the point where I knew who she was but couldn't place it. I focused harder.

It was Bianca. But not the Bianca I knew. She was older, maybe 15, 16. I realized that I was older too, which is why I exceeded her height. She... her form glanced over to me, then glared. "So I'm doing this?" her form asked me, as if I was some kid in line for the diving board and I had shoved her in front of me because I was too scared.

She chuckled humorlessly, pulling her sword from her back. Only it wasn't her sword. It was a bronze dagger. No. It was Annabeth's bronze dagger. Bianca approached the box tentatively, as the shadows seemed to fight over who to draw to.

It glowed a golden light, and I had to turn away. I heard Bianca's screams, but just before I was pulled out of the vision, I saw that there was another girl, standing to my right, unlike Bianca, who was on my left.

All I saw was a glimpse of her startling blue eyes and spiky black hair before the powr filling the room overtook my senses, drawing me to it.

I shot up, panting, I was drenched in a cold sweat. What in Hades...

I squinted the sudden light out of my eyes. It must be morning. I shook my head, trying to fully wake myself. That gold light.

What was that?

I scurried out of my bed, trying to clear my head. Nope. I am not pissing off Nico and the campers by going solo.

So I kept silent. The rest of the day was pretty basic, and there was nothing eventful, except for the threats thrown at Nico.

That is, until dinner dawned on us, and Capture the Flag was imminent. The teams were pretty basic and one sided.

Hades (They called him Cabin 13, which had to be pretty disrespectful but no one had been swallowed into the Fields of Punishment yet, so they kept with it).

Poseidon, Cabin 3 (I wouldn't ditch Nico for any trades or deals).

Hermes, Cabin 11 (Don't ask me why, all I know is that some big collaborative pranks would be incoming on the Ares kids).

VERSUS....

Everyone else. Literally. We were better off dead.

The plan was interesting. The Hermes kids had kinda accepted that they were on the losing team, as had me and Nico. Knowing this, we decided to do the worst thing in history.

We were gonna mess with them.

"Alright everybody, lets go over this again. Percy-" He had his hand flat and turned to the side like a school coach, pointing at me, "Draw some water up from the ground. Make it muddy and disgusting." I slapped his hand playfully, because it was in my face, and he smiled, moving on. "Stolls-" He pointed at them, "Set some traps, some obvious, some invisible. We need them to lower their guard." They nodded, fist bumping Nico. He kept giving people jobs based on their specialties. A child of Hecate was told to make things go boom, a child of Nemesis was told to sit in the trees and launch Stoll made stink bombs, a child of Morpheus was told to make everyone mopey and tired.

It was gonna be fun.

We situated our flag in the most obvious place, in the middle of a small clearing. It would be nearly impossible to get without getting pranked. And when the horn rang out, signalling the start, we waited.

Except for Nico. He slipped off, probably to go make some skeleton hands pop out and grab people ankles.

It was silent for a minute, until we heard people yelling and storming the woods; Ares kids. Probably expected an easy win yet again. Until they started slipping.

It was a technique I had mastered with Matt Sloan. When he would bother someone, usually Tyson, I would make the grass and dirt under him really wet, until he fell. He wasn't agile enough to avoid it, or big enough to just sink in.

I had underestimated the Ares kids' size, which is exactly what I had wanted. Because they sank, trudged through it like a swamp. But before the clearing was even in their sightline they were all waist deep, some even up to their torso. Then the big punch came.

I let the moisture go, and even gave it a little nudge, letting it sink into the ground.

The effect was instantaneous, and all the ares kids were now trapped in hard dirt. I knew they would eventually dig themselves up, but until then we could mess around with the other kids.

As expected, we heard the sound of a stink bomb massacre next. We had pinned most of the kids like Apollo unable to shoot us because of the smoke that filled the air.

After that was chaos.

An Athena kid tripped a wire, and all Hades broke loose. I, along with about 10 Hermes kids, held back our opposers and either knocked them unconscious or had them running in fear.

But we were losing ground. A child of Dionysus quickly grabbed the vine of a nearby tree and threw it to the left with lots of force. I disregarded it, assuming it had just gotten in the kids way. He dodged my slashes for a few seconds, before my feet came out from under me.

My face was in the dirt, and I tried to collect my senses when I felt a roof wrap around my right wrist. I quickly turned up around onto my back when a root grabbed my torso. I struggled, and the roots did loosen a bit, but they were working faster than me.

I stopped moving and focused on what I could do. I focused on bringing the water back, right where and around where I was. Was it a stupid desision? Yes, yes, very much so. I sunk into the ground, but the root around me no longer had the hold they had had a moment ago.

I shoved my hand in my pocket, grabbed Riptide, and uncapped it. I slashed the roots away, and was able to climb back out of the hole I had created for myself.

I trodded through the dirt and water sludge,as the son of Dionysus and a couple children of Demeter ran in fear, I assume.

That was when the unbelievable happened. The horn sounded, and I looked warily at the empty spot in the clearing.

Only it wasn't empty.

"Nico di Angelo has the flag! Blue team wins!"

I smiled as Nico appeared in the clearing, enemy flag in hand. He jogged over to me, and helped me to get out of the mud. "Red team was too cocky for their own good. No-" He took a few deep breaths, "-No defense."

I smiled, and went off to help the others with the Son of Hades. There were a few unaccounted for, and I elected to stay out searching with Nico. At least that is what we told the others. We were just gonna celebrate solo before we got back.

We had wandered a bit farther than we should have, getting off track, laughing about all the antics Nico had gone through, and what I had done, all of it. It was... Fun. Until we came across the docks.

The same spot as the incident last year.

My smile melted as I was brought back to reality. Nico knew exactly what I was thinking, and led me away from the spot. I could tell he was as worried for them as I was. "They'll be alright, won't they? Annabeth, she's, she, uh, she''s smart." I started twiddling my pen in my fingers; a nervous twitch.

Nico stopped me, and took a deep breath. "Wanna hug?" He asked, and I looked over to him, wondering where my Nico had vanished to. "I- I mean, nevermind, it was stupid, er-"

I hugged him. He froze.

He chuckled nervously against my shoulder, then hugged back. He smelled minty. Nico smelled good.

Best day ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone else play Life Is Strange? Probably not, but here I am waiting for the 3rd installment to be premiered.

**Author's Note:**

> This is being transferred from Wattpad (Thanks to TerribleOldMan for the idea) I do plan on finishing it, and have a vague idea on where I'm going with it. Comment any idea you may have, and I'll see if I can work it in.


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